NAIROBI, Kenya, April 19 (UPI) -- The Kenyan government in the 1980s sponsored a campaign of brutality to disarm Somali clans, survivors of a massacre claim.
A truth and reconciliation commission in Kenya is hearing testimony from survivors who witnessed the Wagalla massacre in 1984.
Security forces allegedly rounded up several Kenyans as they tried to disarm Somali clans in the north of the country.
Witnesses and survivors told the commission that soldiers allegedly rounded up scores of men and women, torturing many and burning several alive, the BBC reports.
Kenyan officials said 57 people were killed during the skirmishes, though survivors say as many as 5,000 people were killed during the melees.
Kenyan officials who served in the administration of former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi could face justice, though that depends on the truth commission, the BBC adds.
The truth and reconciliation commission was set up in 2008.
