The wide-open desert of Kenya's Northeastern Province has for years been written off as a lawless land of banditry and clan warfare. Light weapons are commonplace and easy to obtain. The province's 430-mile border with anarchic Somalia is a virtual sieve, making arms smuggling easy, and admits a plethora of light weapons.
Vehicles travel dirt roads only in armed convoys.
Each year dozens of people are murdered or robbed. We also believe that most major clans have clan militia. We believe that each elder, each religious leader, and each political leader knows where the guns are. Most people here are ethnic Somalis, divided from their brethren by a colonial border. They fought a war of secession after Kenya gained independence in the 1960s, and the resulting state of emergency was not lifted until 1992.