Kenya beefs up border security after clashes kill 33

LODWAR, Kenya — Kenyan authorities have reinforced security along the border with Ethiopia after 20 Kenyan fishermen and 13 Ethiopians were killed in clashes on Saturday night in the Todonyang border area.

Cabinet Secretary for the Interior and National Administration Onesimus Kipchumba Murkomen, who inspected the restive region on Monday, said the government has taken immediate, short-term and long-term measures to enhance security along the border following the incident.

"We are also improving the welfare of all police reservists while establishing more border posts to better monitor those entering and exiting our country," Murkomen said.

Tadele Hatte, chief administrator of Ethiopia's Dasenech district, confirmed the deaths of 13 Ethiopians in a statement issued late on Monday.

According to Hatte, the attacks were carried out by armed groups from Kenya's Turkana community, which crossed into Ethiopia's Dasenech district. He said three others were critically injured and are receiving intensive medical care.

Hatte said an "organized and armed Turkana militia group infiltrated the Ethiopian border and carried out a series of attacks in various areas along the Dasenech district", causing extensive damage. Local authorities said the violence has displaced thousands of civilians.

The district administrator said the attackers seized six fishing boats, more than 120 fishing nets, and looted property from the local trading community.

On the Kenyan side, officials provided a different account, saying that heavily armed militia raided areas along the Kenya-Ethiopia border near the Omo River. The attackers allegedly opened fire indiscriminately on fishermen, heightening tensions between the two countries.

According to Kenyan officials, Ethiopian militia struck Lotiira and Lopeimukat, two fertile fishing grounds at Lake Turkana, in retaliation for the earlier killing of three Dasenech fishermen by Turkana bandits from Kenya.

As part of Kenya's security measures, Murkomen announced that national police reservists would be deployed to strengthen border security and support security forces in combating militias and criminal activities.

Todonyang, a fertile fishing ground along the Kenya-Ethiopia border, has long been a hot spot for clashes between Kenyan and Ethiopian fishermen.

XINHUA