Mandera County, Kenya| In one of the deadliest attacks in recent months along Kenya’s volatile northeastern frontier, six members of an extended family — including three young children and a six-month-old infant — were brutally murdered in a night assault on Malkamari village, near Muruthow in Banisa constituency, Mandera County.
The massacre, which occurred late Wednesday night, sent shockwaves through the remote border region near the Kenya-Ethiopia frontier.
According to Mandera County Commissioner Henry Ochako, heavily armed gunmen stormed the quiet village and opened fire on sleeping residents, killing six and injuring four others in what officials have described as a calculated and cold-blooded attack.
“This was a senseless and barbaric act. The victims were defenseless. Among the dead are innocent children and a baby barely six months old,” Commissioner Ochako said during a press briefing Thursday morning.
He confirmed that security personnel have since been deployed to pursue the assailants and stabilize the area.
Authorities suspect the attackers were part of a local clan militia, underscoring the persistent threat posed by inter-clan hostilities and insecurity along the poorly policed borderlands of northern Kenya.
Preliminary investigations suggest the attack specifically targeted the household of local Member of County Assembly (MCA) Abdullahi Maalim Hassan. All the deceased and injured belong to the same extended family.
The victims of the heinous assault have been identified as:
- Kheira Muhumed Abdirahman, 38
- Abdifatah Haji Issack Hassan, 4
- Imran Haji Issack, 3
- Aisha Haji Issack, 6 months
- Halima Abdi Guhad, 42
- Kheira Mohamed Muhumed, 8
The injured, now receiving treatment at Mandera County Referral Hospital, include:
- Issack Haji Hassan, father of the deceased children
- Suheyba Haji Hassan, 9
- Fardowsa Haji Hassan, 14
- Alasey Adow Khamis, 35, believed to be the mother of some of the affected children
Security officials say that the response was severely hampered by a lack of communication infrastructure in the area, which delayed emergency coordination and medical evacuation.
Malkamari, like many villages in northern Kenya, suffers from minimal state presence, leaving it vulnerable to both inter-communal violence and cross-border incursions.
Residents and leaders from Mandera have decried the persistent insecurity in the region and called on the national government to step up efforts to end the cycle of violence that has plagued northern Kenya for decades.
“Peace must be restored in our communities. These killings are not only tragic but also unacceptable in a country governed by the rule of law,” said a visibly shaken community elder, speaking to journalists near the hospital where survivors are recuperating.
As investigators continue to piece together the events surrounding the deadly assault, questions remain about the motives behind the targeted killings and the identity of the perpetrators.
Authorities are urging residents to cooperate with security agencies and provide any information that may lead to arrests.
The Kenyan government has faced ongoing criticism over its handling of insecurity in northern frontier regions, where ethnic rivalries, resource-based conflicts, and porous borders often culminate in deadly violence.
This latest tragedy in Malkamari may once again reignite calls for a comprehensive security and development strategy in the marginalized region.
Commissioner Ochako assured the public that the government is committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice. “We will not rest until those responsible are apprehended and held accountable. The families of the victims deserve justice.”
As the nation mourns the loss of innocent lives, the Malkamari massacre serves as a stark reminder of the fragile peace and festering tensions in Kenya’s neglected northern territories — where communities continue to live under the shadow of fear and violence.
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