31 killed in a week of clan wars

Thirty one people have been killed and 155 others injured in inter-clan fighting in Mandera County.
Thousands more have been displaced since the violence started a week ago.

Police say the violence is about elective politics, with each clan wanting a dominant role.

The extent of the killings and damage to property by far exceeds what the government has acknowledged officially since the violence began last Saturday. A woman and her seven children were killed at home, but this is not in the official report.

Besides the widely reported attack in Rhamu, heavily armed assailants took the fight to other parts of the county including Banisa, Chiroqo in Guba, Ogorwein and Gofa.

Five people died in Rhamu, eight were killed in Guba, another eight in Ogorwein and 10 in Gofa. Guba trading centre was destroyed after the looting and razing of five shops, 15 semi-permanent houses, 20 manyattas, a school, the chief’s camp and a dispensary.

SPORADIC FIRING

The extent of the damage could be worse given that security personnel have not been able to access all the areas.

Sporadic firing is still being reported from the area.
The fighting is between the Garreh and Degodia clans of the Somali people. A police report last Tuesday said 200 heavily armed men from Ethiopia attacked Guba.

There has been wanton destruction of property.

In Chiroqo, 20 houses were set on fire, while a school and a dispensary were vandalised.

The most extensive damage happened in Rhamu where 188 houses were razed. Seventeen houses were torched in Ogorwein.

Police gunned down a man in Rhamu over the violence and recovered two AK-47 rifles and 81 bullets.

Ten people are being interrogated by the police in connection with the raids.

Information flow from the remote area has been poor from both the police and residents.

Police spokesperson Gatiria Mboroki on Monday said the official death toll was two.

The following day, a police report indicated that eight more were “feared dead.”