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Kenyan cops kill five 'bandits'
07/07/2006 15:42 - (SA)
Marsabit - Kenyan security forces have killed five suspected Ethiopian bandits who attacked a village in the latest flare-up in the lawless north, says a local official.
Kenyan police and soldiers battled at least 50 bandits after chasing them to within 10km of the border with Ethiopia late on Thursday.
The raiders had shot dead three people earlier in the day in a dawn attack on Eladi village in Kenya's northeastern Marsabit district.
Marsabit district commissioner Mutea Iringo said: "The bandits engaged our security team in a fierce shootout, but five of them were killed."
Security measures not enough
Cross-border raids were common along Kenya's borders in the arid north and east as mainly pastoral clans fought over scarce resources like water and pasture.
In response to the latest attack, police helicopter and security personnel were dispatched along a 400km section of the border to prevent future incursions.
But, Iringo said the measures taken to beef up security were not enough to prevent attacks.
He said: "Aircraft should be patrolling the four trading centres along the 400km border stretch from Turbi to Dukana everyday to monitor the movement of any bandit or militia crossing over the common border."
In April, Kenya sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the region after thousands of livestock were stolen and the kidnapping of a woman by raiders.
- Reuters
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