Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - 42 policemen killed, is the latest toll of the massacre that took place on November 10 in the town of Baragoi, in northern Kenya, where for some time the looting of animals among groups of Samburu and Turkana pastors have caused dozens of deaths .
"The police had intervened in force, with more than 100 men, to try to bring order to the area and recover the stolen cattle, in order to prevent that the looting of cattle would result in a another bloodbath sinilar to what happened two months ago in the Tana River District, where more than 100 people were killed (see Fides 13/09/2012) " says to Fides Agency a source of the local church, that for security reasons has asked to remain anonymous. "The police, however, had to deal with bandits who were better armed than them."
"This incident is alarming because next year parliamentary elections will be held in Kenya. A recurrence of the post-election violence of 2007-2008, which caused thousands of deaths is feared, " says the source to Fides. In the Country there seems to be terrorist networks that are importing large quantities of arms from Somalia and other neighboring Countries, in order to provoke violence in the elections with worse consequences than the previous ones. In the clashes of 2007-2008 arrows and spears were used, now what is feared is the use of assault rifles and bombs."
This alarm does not seem to have been received with sufficient attention by the authorities, even after the massacre of dozens of police officers, because, as our source explains "we are already in the election campaign, politicians and the press have not given great emphasis to the massacre of the police because it highlights the weakness of the State. " (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 13/11/2012)
