A series of attacks in Meru that broke out on Sunday, has left four dead, several injured and one local reported as missing.
Simmering tensions between Borana and Somali livestock traders in Meru boiled over leading to an all-out assault that has left residents reeling in the bloody aftermath.
Igembe North head of police, David Kirui, while speaking to Daily Nation revealed that the savage murders were ethnic-based.
“It is as if the two communities are engaged in a business rivalry and one wants the other to stop trading directly with the Meru,” he noted.
Reports indicate that the killings started when unidentified gunmen shot and killed Willy Harun and injured an unidentified passenger as they rode from Mutuati market to Gachiuru.
Once word of the shooting spread, a chain reaction was triggered by the rival community going on a revenge mission.
Kiolu village was their final destination and on arriving, they shot and killed a local, Samuel Mugambi, after which they headed to a makeshift homestead at Kongo Atune where herdsmen were enjoying a meal.
As per the reports, the highly charged gang opened fire with reckless abandon leaving several injured and a herdsman dead.