April 26, 2006 (Reuters) - ISIOLO, Kenya, Dozens of militiamen from Ethiopia attempted to attack a remote village in northern Kenya on Wednesday and wounded a Kenyan soldier during a fierce exchange of fire, police said.
When confronted by Kenyan security forces, up to 50 militiamen retreated back to Ethiopian territory, Kenyan police said in a statement.
The police said the raiders had tried to attack the village of Atesa in Moyale district. "The only casualty that occurred as a result of this incident was a slight injury to a Kenyan army soldier," the police said.
Eastern Province deputy police officer Gerald Olouch told Reuters that the raiders had abducted two villagers.
The attack has heightened tension along the two countries' border where Kenya has deployed its security forces to stop a wave of raids from Ethiopian cattle rustlers.
Hundreds of families have fled their homes. Violence and cross-border livestock raids are common in Kenya's poor and arid east and north where the mainly pastoral clans fight for scant resources.
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