Armed attack in Kenya leaves 47 dead

At least 47 people have been killed after gunmen attacked a village on the border between northern Kenyan counties of Turkana and East Pokot, officials said on Tuesday.

“I can confirm the number of dead after the Turkana attack to be at 46,” Rift Valley province’s regional commissioner Osman Warfa told in a phone interview.

“Our security agents are after the bandits but there have been no arrests so far. The bandits managed to steal cattle and goats,” Warfa said.

According to the Kenyan Red Cross Society, one more person died while undergoing treatment in the capital Nairobi, bringing up the death toll from the attack to 47.

According to a Red Cross statement, ten injured people had been airlifted to Nairobi for treatment.

“One of the ten has succumbed to the injuries while at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi,” a statement from the emergency service said.

Government sources pointed the finger at the Turkana tribe for the attack.

Turkana and rival Pokot tribe have for years been in conflict over pasture and the centuries-old culture of cattle rustling.

Despite a program by the government to disarm the mainly pastoralist tribes of the remote and arid north, bandit attacks have continued.

source:World bulletin