Elders from the Borana community in Isiolo have condemned last week’s attack at Quri in Garbatula subcounty.
Assailants from Lagdera opened fire at a Manyatta, killing a three-year-old girl and seriously injuring seven other residents among them an expectant woman.
The seven injured persons are in stable condition. Three were admitted to Isiolo County Teaching and Referral Hospital while the other four received treatment at Garbatula subcounty hospital.
The medical superintendent at Isiolo Hussein Abdi said the mother who lost a daughter while protecting her also lost her pregnancy as the bullet that killed her child also tore her abdomen. She underwent successful surgery.
In a press statement, the elders said raiders from the neighboring Lagdera subcounty in Garissa date back to February 2018.
They accused the county security agencies of laxity in carrying out their mandate, to stop imminent attacks even with prior intelligence.
The elders were led by the national chairman of Borana Council of Elders Abdullahi Gonjobe and Isiolo county assembly speaker Hussein Roba.
Gonjobe said the attacks were not merely about water and pasture. The attackers from Lagdera are interested in Isiolo land because of the Lapset project, he said.
He urged Interior CS Fred Matiangi to intervene and resolve Isiolo -Garissa boundary row that has claimed tens of lives and loss of hundreds of livestock.
The elders said the border between the two counties is well known and all the six attacks dating back to February last year have happened within Isiolo land.
Gonjobe said Isiolo residents have refrained from retaliation despite frequent attacks.
The elders said continued conflict in the area is an indication of lack of political will by the government to clear end the border dispute.
