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Kenyan police and security forces have begun an operation to recover illegal firearms in Tana River District, eastern Kenya, where ethnic clashes between Orma and Pokomo communities have killed 56 people in less than a year, the 'East African Standard' newspaper reported on Thursday, 11 October.
The newspaper quoted local police chief, Samuel Kilemi, as saying that the operation would ensure the two communities were deprived of firearms, and would be carried out by the paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) with the assistance of regular police officers.
These forces would also aim to arrest people suspected of involvement in an attack by pastoralist Ormas last week in which four Pokomos were killed and more than 100 manyattas (dwellings) set on fire, Kilemi said.
Elders from the sedentary Pokomo population have alleged that the Ormas have been accumulating firearms in preparation for "total war" on Pokomos, the report stated.
Various peace initiatives were underway to address the clashes, UNOCHA Kenya reported in early October. Thursday. The incidents were affecting food security and the safety of non-combatants as well as humanitarian operations, it said.
Several national and international agencies have recently joined together to establish a Local Peace Coordination Committee to work towards sustainable peace and development in Tana River.
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