Agenzia Fides

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - The Kenyan government has decided to assign the army to the police in the hunt for the gang responsible for the murder of police officers on November 10, in the village of Baragoi in the north of the Country (see Fides 13/11/2012 ). The attackers, a gang of rustlers, whom the police were hunting, killed at least 24 policemen and eight reservists of the police, but according to other sources the victims among the police are about 40. The estimates are complicated by the fact that there are still dispersed agents, some of whom have been found alive.
The approximately 100 police were hunting a gang of ethnic Turkana who in mid-October had captured 500 head of cattle from farmers of the Samburu tribe. On October 30, 12 Samburu farmers were killed in an attempt to recover their cattle. The massacre had led the police to launch a massive operation to chase them, which ended with an even more serious massacre. According to the Kenyan press the Turkana people are leaving the area for fear of getting involved in the military offensive. Sources of the Diocese of Marsabit contacted by Fides Agency have not been able to confirm the news on the flight of the population, but claim that the tension in the area is still high. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 14/11/2012)