Nairobi — A man was killed and 13 others arrested in a police operation to recover illegal firearms in Trans Mara District.

District commissioner Albert Mwiritza said police shot the man who defied orders to surrender and instead fired his gun at the officers.

He said an AK-47 rifle and 16 rounds of ammunition were found on the deceased.

Among the 13 who were arrested was a taxi driver who was found with nine rounds of ammunition.

The contingent of regular and Administration policemen and General Service Unit and Anti-Stock Theft Unit officers under the command of local police chief Titus Yoma have recovered two guns and 25 rounds of ammunition in the operation.

The exercise comes in the wake of a resurgence of tribal hostilities between the Kipsigis and Maasai communities which has left six people dead in the past month.

The administrator named the most affected areas as Kirindoni, Tarakwet, and Murgan on the border with Trans Mara West.

Separately, the government will next month carry out a security operation in the North Rift to mop up illegal firearms.

The operation scheduled to kick off on March 10 will come at the end of the amnesty period given to residents to voluntarily surrender the arms. Rift Valley provincial commissioner Osman Warfa extended the period last Thursday.

District commissioners, who included Mr Jeremiah Were (West Pokot), Mr Allan Machari (Pokot Central), and Mr John Ondego (Marakwet West), made the announcement at Kapkanyar Primary School yesterday during a joint security meeting.

Marakwet West MP Boaz Kaino, a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on cattle rustling and banditry activities, had convened the meeting together with the Provincial Administration and grassroots leaders.

"We have unanimously resolved that after the lapse of the extended amnesty, the forceful operation will commence. We still appeal to residents holding illegal guns and are against confrontation with the State to take advantage of the extended amnesty," Mr Ondego said.

He added that the government had enough firearms detectors to be used in the operation and that the State would not relent in its quest to rid the region of illegal weapons.

The government estimates that more than 64,000 illegal weapons are in the hands of civilians in Rift Valley Province alone.

Since the government issued the amnesty, only 392 firearms and 973 rounds of ammunition have been surrendered in the past month in the North Rift.

The meeting heard that in Pokot North, 35 firearms and at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition had been surrendered. In Marakwet only two defective AK-47 rifles and 100 rounds of ammunition have been handed in.

The rest of the firearms came from Samburu, Laikipia, and Pokot East districts.