Cattle rustler attack in northern Kenya leaves 9 dead

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – With locals suffering from a major drought, an attack by cattle rustlers in northern Kenya on Thursday left nine people dead on both sides, according to a local official.

Abdirisak Jaldesa, commissioner in Samburu North sub-county in the Great Rift Valley region, told reporters that the attackers also stole an unknown number of cattle and left two people seriously injured in the Suyan area.

When raiders attacked several groups of huts forming a small village around Suyan, three villagers were killed along with six of the attackers, he said.

With about 90% of the stolen animals recovered, “a team has been sent out to mop up the raiders who carried out the attack and track the animals which were stolen,” he added.

There have been numerous cases of cattle rustling as nomadic pastoralist communities lose thousands of livestock to a drought which, according to the government, has left over 2 million people on the brink of starvation.

Last week, three people were killed in the Laikipia county in a cattle-rustling raid, while seven others were killed in the Kerio valley over cattle-related banditry.