Tribal Fighting Kills Dozens in Kenya

According to the police, the fighting broke out when armed attackers from the Pokomo community raided a village belonging to the neighboring Orma ethnic group on Friday morning.

“So far, 39 people are dead, including 13 children and 6 women,” said Robert Kitur, the deputy police chief for the region.

He said 11 Orma men and 9 of the attackers were among those killed.

No arrests have been made, the police official said, adding that security was being reinforced in the area.

Kenya Red Cross officials, whose response team was at the scene, gave a lower toll, saying they had counted 30 bodies, among them children and women. The officials said more than 30 people sustained serious wounds while more than 45 houses were set on fire.

Most of those killed were either shot or hacked to death after the dawn attack.

More than 100 people from the same region have died in recent months as rivalry between the two communities flared up.

Locals say the fighting was triggered by a confrontation over pasture for livestock. Kenyans are still grappling with the memory of the 2007 postelection mayhem that racked the East African nation and left more than 1,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.

The attack came as the country prepares braces for another general election in March.

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