TURKANA, Kenya — Four Turkana fishermen were killed early Thursday morning in a suspected cross-border attack by militia from Ethiopia, sparking renewed concerns over insecurity along the Lake Turkana border zone.
Authorities in Turkana County have blamed members of the Dassanech community — a pastoralist group from southern Ethiopia — for the deadly assault.
The incident occurred along the northwestern shores of Lake Turkana, an area frequently hit by waves of violence attributed to long-standing resource-based conflicts and contested territorial boundaries.
“This is not just a tragedy. It is an act of aggression,” said Turkana Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai in a strongly worded statement issued Thursday. “We painfully recall the February incident where lives were lost in a similar attack. Today’s killings are a continuation of this unacceptable hostility.”
The governor said he had engaged both county security officials and national authorities, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to push for a diplomatic and security response.
He also called for calm among residents and pledged support to the bereaved families through emergency response teams.
Turkana residents, particularly those living near the lake, have long relied on its waters for fishing and livestock, but their livelihoods have been increasingly jeopardized by repeated incursions from across the border.
Another killing at Todonyang in Turkana North, at these rate at which conflict and killings between Turkana- KE and Dassanach- Ethiopia is alarming lets do Peace @citizentvkenya @TurkanaCountyKE @areng_adan @HonAdenDuale @kipmurkomen @IGADPeace @SAPCONE @apadlodwar @DanChurchAid
While tensions between the Turkana and Dassanech communities are not new, local leaders say the frequency and brutality of recent attacks demand urgent action.
The county government has urged national agencies to boost patrols and enhance surveillance along the volatile stretch of the Kenya-Ethiopia border, where law enforcement presence is often thin and communication infrastructure remains poor.
No arrests had been made by Friday morning, and details about the attackers’ movements remain sketchy.
The bodies of the four fishermen were recovered and taken to a local mortuary as investigations continue.
The killings are the latest reminder of the simmering tensions in Kenya’s remote northern frontier, where borders are porous, and peace has always been fragile.
