21 injured as clashes erupt afresh at Olpusimoru in Narok

Twenty-one people are nursing injuries following eruption of fresh violence on Sunday at Olpusimoru on the border of Narok and Nakuru counties, says Narok administrator George Natembeya.

Security officers have been deployed to the area after the incident that has been linked to a cattle theft incident.

Four victims with arrows lodged on their bodies have been admitted to Tenwek Mission Hospital in Bomet County.

"The patients have been wheeled into the theatre for emergency operations to remove the arrows in their bodies," said a doctor at the hospital who is not authorised to speak to the press.

Three of the men were referred from Olenguruone Sub County Hospital while the fourth was brought directly from the scene of the clashes by relatives and well wishers according to a source at the facility.

"They came in a succession of ten minutes, and doctors who had day off are on standby in the event the number of victims rises at night," the doctor said.

The fighting between the two communities is said to have been triggered by a cattle rustling incident.

"Members of one community went after the stolen stock but were repulsed leading to an intense fighting in the evening," said Mr Alfred Sang, an elder from the affected area.

A source said security teams were taken by surprise by the attack that has seen more than 10 homes set ablaze at Olmariko and Esoit in Narok North.

The clashes according to former Olpusimoru ward representative Wilson Ole Masikonte were triggered after seven cows were stolen in Olmariko.

The latest clashes come in the wake of a similar flare-up in Nakuru between two communities that left at least six people dead and several nursing arrow injuries.

Reporting by Eric Matara, John Njoroge, Vitalis Kimutai and George Sayagie.