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Warriors held in troubled zone
DAILY NATION
Story by FRED MUKINDA
Publication Date: 4/10/2007
More than 280 warriors have been arrested in clashes-hit Mt Elgon District, the Government has announced as it moved to rein in the militia.
According to a statement by Internal Security ministry, 13 other warriors had been killed while 23 were injured in separate gun battles with the police.
Police were also hunting for 80 other suspects who had been identified as part of militiamen responsible for launching gangland style attacks in the area.
Among those arrested are five prime suspects who had been linked to the killing of six people in Kapsokwony, according to the statement signed by the ministry’s public relations officer Kariuki Kinyanjui.
“The Government has taken measures to end these violent clashes and ensure that normalcy returns,” said Mr Kinyanjui.
He said a contingent of regular and administration police as well as the paramilitary General Service Unit had been deployed to flush out the ragtag militia from their hideouts in the forest.
So far, he said, measures taken by the Government to end the violence include a three-day amnesty offer for the warriors to surrender their firearms.
He said the decision was arrived at during a meeting for the security heads in the districts chaired by Western Provincial Commissioner Abdul Mwasera. It was attended by police, intelligence officials, district commissioners and officers, chiefs and their assistants.
Another meeting between the PC and local politicians is scheduled for today.
“The provincial security and intelligence committee shall meet with current and former MPs from the area to discuss peace and the way forward,” said Mr Kinyanjui.
Issue title deeds
He said Lands ministry was also planning to issue title deeds to residents who had been vetted by local community committees.
The six-month skirmishes have claimed the lives of 144 residents while 115 others have been injured.
The militia responsible for the killings has been launching raids from their cells in Mt Elgon forest, during which they loot property, shoot civilians and torch houses.
Director of police operations David Kimaiyo said the clashes were sparked by land disputes but investigations by the Nation show that some people had linked it to an attempt to displace voters from the cosmopolitan areas ahead of the General Election in
December.
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