Police on Thursday arrested three Royal Media Services (RMS) journalists who were on assignment in Laikipia west.
The journalists from Inooro TV, Waweru wa Nyambura, Peter Mwangi and Efantos Macharia were detained by police for six hours.
During their detention, the journalists were forced to erase the clips that they had recorded showing cattle that had been killed during a crossfire and were said to belong to the herders.
The residents had earlier accused the police of shooting down their herds and it was believed that Wednesday's attack on the Mukutan Retreat, a luxury safari lodge owned by a white conservationist, was a retaliation for the ongoing operation in the county.
The attack comes in the wake of a joint operation by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the police in the area aimed at recovering illegal firearms and flushing out herders who have invaded the private land, ranches and conservancies.
Insecurity in Laikipia has spiked in recent months as armed cattle herders searching for scarce grazing land continue to drive their cattle into private farms and ranches.
According to sources, the violent land invasions were being stoked by politicians seeking votes from particular ethnic groups in the national elections scheduled for August.
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