Police in Moyale have arrested three suspected Ethiopians with more than 2,000 bullets at the border town a day after two people were killed in the area.

The three were intercepted crossing the border with the bullets in their bags. The police locked them up in Moyale police station. Upper Eastern regional PC Isaiah Nakoru said the suspects had Kenyan IDs. The PC, who held series of meetings in Moyale to calm the situation following the killing of two people two days ago, urged the communities to co-exist and embrace dialogue. He promised to arrest and prosecute the suspects.

Nakoru was accompanied by the area MP Mohamud Ali who told the government to mobilise security personnels to mop up illegal firearms. Ali asked the police to thoroughly investigate the matter saying the residents of the border town should co-exist peacefully. He called on security agents to establish police posts on the highway to ensure that passengers and transporters go about their activities undisturbed.

Among those who were killed is a prominent businessman and a senior prison officer who was on transfer from Machakos reporting to his new station at Moyale. The two were shot by armed men who had earlier blocked a truck which was on its way to Moyale town. The bandits waylaid along the highway with boulders and forced the truck carrying eleven people and cargo to stop.

Sources said the bandits dragged the victim out of the vehicle and shot at close range after they fail to cooperate in giving out valuables. Eastern Provincial Police Officer Marcus Ochola yesterday said security officers has kicked off man hunt for the suspects. He said nine of the passengers who cooperated went unhurt during the incident.