12 Government Officials were on Thursday evening caught up in a shootout involving two rival groups in Baringo County.
The 12 chiefs are said to have been heading to a peace meeting when a lorry they were travelling in came under a hail of bullets.
The administrators from Pokot had been dispatched for a peace mission to try and pacify the area which has in the recent past been subjected to deadly attacks from cattle rustlers.
Upon reaching an area between Chepkalacha and Nosokuro region, the administrators were ambushed by armed bandits who are said to have been fighting over the control of some sections of the area.
Confirming the incident, police officers privy to the incident stated that the chiefs had organised the meeting to convince the same attackers to end the frequent fights that have polarised the region.
“The chiefs’ mission was to talk to herders from their areas who had migrated to Nosokuru in search of pasture,” a police report was quoted.
During the shootout, the vehicle that the administrators were using was destroyed but they all escaped unhurt.
The County has been subjected to constant back and forth cattle raids which have led to deaths of several people.
In December 2016, a police officer sustained serious injuries after he was shot on both legs by suspected bandits who ambushed a patrol car.
Eight others officers were forced to flee for their lives as they were outnumbered by the attackers.
