Kenya tribal violence kills 39

NAIROBI: At least 39 people were killed on Friday in an attack on a village in a remote part of southeastern Kenya's coastal region, where deadly tribal violence also erupted earlier this year, police said.

The raid on Kipao village in the Tana river delta in the early hours "unleashed terror" on the inhabitants, police said.

The total number of people killed was 39, including 30 villagers and nine assailants, a police officer in the region who asked not to be named told AFP. Police had earlier put the toll at 28.

Pictures posted on the Twitter feed of the Red Cross, which said earlier that 30 people had been killed, showed the charred walls of mud huts still standing, their thatched roofs reduced to nothing.

The violence could be linked to Kenya's general election being held in March as a change in district boundaries has led to a shift in the balance of power between the different ethnic groups in the area.

The Red Cross said its rescue teams were tending to the wounded, some 30 of whom were in a critical condition. It gave no total figure for the number of people injured.

In August and September more than 100 people were killed in violence between rival communities living along the Tana river, whose muddy red waters are flanked by dense vegetation.

Police were unable to stop the violence between the Orma who are herders and the Pokomo who are mainly farmers, and some 10 officers were killed. Around 1,000 men from the special police forces had to be deployed to restore order.

It was not immediately clear whether Kipao village is peopled by Orma or by Pokomo.

Tensions have long existed between the two communities, with conflicts flaring over access to land and water points. Observers who saw the violence in August and September however said the raids were very well organised and some of them involved militia from other areas.

Tensions between the two communities resurfaced in the past few days during a disarmament operation. (AFP)