[allAfrica.com] [celtel.com] Marsabit : Army Goes in As Survivors Flee The East African Standard (Nairobi) NEWS July 15, 2005 Posted to the web July 14, 2005 By Ali Abdi and Cyrus Ombati Turbi, Marsabit A major security operation got under way to track down the perpetrators of Tuesday's massacre in Marsabit as residents awoke to an amazing story of hope after a man was found alive, 48 hours after the gruesome attack. A police officer holds the hand a young girl who was among hundreds of children displaced after bandits attacked Turbi in Marsabit. Bade Wako was found under a pile of stones, along with nine bodies of the people with whom he was travelling in a Land Rover when they were attacked by a mob. The mob, on a revenge mission following the Tuesday attack in which 56 villagers were killed, commandeered the vehicle, belonging to a Catholic mission hospital at Bubisa, on the Isiolo-Moyale highway and ordered the occupants to identify themselves. The mob descended on the innocent worshippers who were returning from a church seminar and bludgeoned them with stones. But Wako refused to die and - against all odds - remained alive until after more than 48 hours when he heard the voices of security men and raised his hand from under the stones. He was taken to Marsabit District Hospital briefly, then transferred to Sololo Mission Hospital on security grounds - his community is under siege in Marsabit because it is being blamed for the Tuesday massacre. The bodies of the nine other people were removed from the scene yesterday. Save for nine-month-old Sayo, the rest were at the spot where Wako was found. Sayo was found several metres from the rest. The baby's father, Mr Gabriel Bagaja, also lost his wife Lokho. The Catholic priest who was ferrying the worshippers was spared by the mob. Fr Aldrin Anito was left on the roadside as the gang drove his vehicle two kilometres into the wild. A tourist driving from Ethiopia recalls meeting the agitated priest, who informed him he would not leave without his people. Tension was high in Marsabit yesterday, with unconfirmed reports of five more deaths. A high-level team of detectives left Nairobi for Marsabit along with the two assistant ministers in charge of internal security. Mr Mirugi Kariuki and Mr Joseph Kingi toured Turbi - where the bodies of the 10 bandits killed by security officers on Tuesday still lay strewn in the killing fields. Mirugi told journalists that the Government would investigate claims that the attackers were members of the Ethiopian Oromo Liberation Front. He said that unlike previous attacks that were attributable to rivalry over watering points, it was clear that this time the aim was to kill people. Mirugi and Kingi are expected to address a rally in Turbi today. A woman carries her animals kids as she flees Turbi. Military personnel have teamed up with the General Service Unit and regular police to guard the villages and track down the perpetrators of the massacre of more than 60 villagers. A fresh contingent of the GSU personnel was sent to the area. Yesterday, in addition to the five more people feared killed, several more were reported missing. Two people were reportedly killed in Rawana area in North Horr's Bada Hurri location early yesterday by bandits who also burnt their houses. The Eastern Province police officer in charge of operations, Mr Robert Kitur, said he had sent officers to the scene to get details of the attack. There were other reports that three women were killed in Mt Marsabit Forest as they hewed firewood. But Kitur was unaware of it: "I don't think that is true because the forest is not far from the district headquarters," he said. The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in Marsabit reported that five pupils of Turbi Primary School were missing, three days after the Tuesday attack in which 22 of their colleagues were shot dead. Their headteacher, Mr Issako Qarqaba, said the bandits could have abducted the children. Fr Hillary Halkano said the two girls and three boys could not be accounted for and he feared they might have been abducted or killed by the assailants. "Relatives have looked for them everywhere but they cannot be traced," the priest said. Five officials working for a non-governmental organisation, Farm Africa, have also been reported missing. According to Saku MP Abdi Sasura, the officials travelled to North Horr Constituency on Monday, a day before the Turbi massacre. Sasura, who spoke to The Standard yesterday before he flew to Sololo in company of his Moyale counterpart Dr Guracha Galgalo, said they feared that vengeful villagers might have killed the officials. The officials, Sasura said, were scheduled to arrive back in Marsabit Town on Tuesday but could not be reached on radio. Hundreds of families have been displaced and villages razed in both Saku and North-Horr constituencies. The most affected are those from Bada Hurri and Hurri Hills who started moving to the relatively safer Marsabit Town. Police and Red Cross officials yesterday confirmed that several people had moved from their villages in the expansive and remote constituencies to seek refuge at trading centres. Kitur said several huts whose occupants come from other parts of the district and the neighbouring Moyale were torched in Maikona. The Red Cross co-ordinator for disaster preparedness, Mr Farid Abdulkadir, told The Standard that hundreds of those displaced were in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. The organisation has sent food and other items like tarpaulins and blankets that were distributed to the displaced. The local Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation chairperson, Ms Fatuma Godana, said women bore the brunt of the clashes. She said most women were spending the night in the bushes for fear of attacks. North Horr MP Bonaya Godana speaks to security officers when he visited the place where fleeing students were massacred. Pics by Maxwell Agwanda Godana said a woman gave birth in a forested area on Wednesday night after abandoning her home. Another child was snatched from the mother's lap by a hyena on Tuesday night after the family moved to a nearby bush at Badan Hurri. Other villagers caught up with the beast and saved the child who was slightly injured. "Women and children are the most affected by the clashes. They sleep outside at night and come back during the day to find out whether their property is still intact," Godana said. The Catholic Peace and Justice Commission, Marsabit branch, said both Gabra and Borana herdsmen had been affected. Hillary Halkano, the co-ordinator of the organisation, said due to intermarriage and other relations, the two communities can be found in all parts of the district. But due to the existing tension between them, they were forced to separate and move elsewhere. The CID director, Mr Joseph Kamau, said the intelligence officers would investigate the cause of the brutal murders and report back immediately. "Action will be taken immediately and it will not matter who is behind it. We are serious about this," he said. He said police had so far not established if the attacks were internally or externally motivated but promised to unravel the truth. He added that it was still unclear if the attacks were politically motivated as alleged by area MPs. He said the officers will question the legislators as part of the investigations,. The intelligence team travelled with the assistant ministers who yesterday flew to the area for the first time since the incident was reported on Tuesday. They left in a police helicopter from Wilson Airport shortly before noon with more personnel from the General Service Unit. The officers were immediately deployed in Marsabit Town where tension remained high for the better part of the day after word went round that another attack was imminent. Intelligence reports indicated that the raiders were regrouping to avenge the killing of their colleagues. Police spokesman Jasper Ombati said police had intensified patrols in the area to avert further attacks. "The security operation will continue until peace is restored," he said.   =============================================================================  Copyright © 2005 The East African Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================