At least 12 killed in wave of retaliatory attacks as tensions between communities spiral into the deadliest violence in four decades
TSEIKURU, Kenya – A deadly wave of retaliatory violence between Somali and Kamba communities has claimed at least 12 lives across Garissa and Kitui counties, as authorities scramble to contain escalating ethnic tensions.
The bloodiest incident occurred on April 25 in Tseikuru, Kitui County, where approximately 40 armed assailants stormed Kwa Kamari Trading Centre, shooting dead seven Kamba villagers, six men and one woman, before torching shops and a petrol station. A survivor remains hospitalized in critical condition.
That attack was the latest in a cycle of revenge killings that began on March 29, when a Kamba herdsman was killed near Mwingi Game Reserve. The following day, four members of the Somali community were killed in a suspected retaliatory raid. The violence had remained dormant for weeks until the Kwa Kamari massacre.
In response, the government has deployed a special security team to Tseikuru, but opposition leader Kalonzo Musyoka has slammed President Ruto’s administration, questioning how heavily armed attackers evaded security forces across county borders. “The blood of these seven Kenyans is on the hands of a government that looked away,” he said.
Meanwhile, Garissa has been rocked by a separate crisis. On April 10, a DCI officer shot dead 24-year-old taxi driver Aden Mohammed Hassan at the Modika roadblock. The killing sparked violent protests, with demonstrators barricading the Nairobi-Garissa highway and torching vehicles.
In a related development, police have arrested Bare Sahara Ahmed, a female political aspirant from Garissa, over an inciteful video. A court on April 27 ordered her detained for 10 days as the DCI investigates hate speech charges. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) warned that freedom of expression does not extend to ethnic incitement.
Community leaders in Garissa have appealed for calm, stressing that the officer’s actions should not be generalized to an entire community. However, with both counties on edge and a history of resource-based clashes over grazing land, security agencies fear further retaliation unless urgent dialogue is initiated.