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Tension remains high in several villages in the Bangale
sub-county, Tana River following renewed inter-clan clashes over land disputes
that have so far claimed 8 lives.
The skirmishes that have escalated to several
villages started last week have seen the warring communities use firearms,
bows, and arrows with security officers struggling to contain them.
Four were killed in Nanighi, two at KBC grounds and two at Anole area. The killings happened on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The first incident was ignited by squabbles at a
watering point in Anole between two communities which led to the shooting of
Said Maliu aged 75 and Juma Mohammed aged 35.
The skirmishes further escalated to the KBC area where
the flood victims had settled recently and a village elder Daud Shora aged 58
was shot four times and died on the spot.
Bangale Police Commander Ephraim Karani confirmed
the killings and assured the aggrieved families that justice would be served.
He stated that tensions escalated on Friday as the
two communities clashed over the land dispute.
“We responded swiftly and deployed adequate security
officers to restore calm,” he said.
Karanja added that the situation could have been
worse without the urgent intervention of security personnel in the Anole area,
where schoolchildren and teachers, who were targeted for a retaliatory attack
by one of the warring communities, were rescued.
He said police already have the names of individuals
possessing illegal firearms adding that it was a matter of time before they are
arrested.
Tension remains high in the affected villages as
police intensify patrols
There was drama at Madogo police station in Tana River County on Friday afternoon when members from one community stormed the station demanding for immediate arrest of perpetrators who shot and killed three people in Anole and KBC areas.
Residents are now demanding the arrest of individuals in
possession of illegal firearms.
They also accused some politicians of being behind
the killings by secretly inciting some communities against each other.