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Kenya clashes: 'Revenge attacks' in Coast Province | Kenya clashes: 'Revenge attacks' in Coast Province |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Twelve people have been killed in renewed ethnic clashes in a remote part of south-eastern Kenya, officials say. | Twelve people have been killed in renewed ethnic clashes in a remote part of south-eastern Kenya, officials say. |
Armed raiders set fire to houses overnight, a local official said. | Armed raiders set fire to houses overnight, a local official said. |
"We heard gunshots and screams, then there was smoke all over," said Jillo Dabacha, according to Reuters news agency. | "We heard gunshots and screams, then there was smoke all over," said Jillo Dabacha, according to Reuters news agency. |
The raid happened in the Tana River area of Coast Province, where clashes between the Orma and Pokomo communities killed at least 52 people last month. | The raid happened in the Tana River area of Coast Province, where clashes between the Orma and Pokomo communities killed at least 52 people last month. |
"These are revenge attacks," Kenya Red Cross official Nelly Muluka told the AFP news agency. | "These are revenge attacks," Kenya Red Cross official Nelly Muluka told the AFP news agency. |
Villagers fleeing | |
Local residents told the BBC that the attackers were wearing military uniforms and carrying "sophisticated weapons". They said five men, six women and a child had been killed. | |
"It was this morning at 6 o'clock when armed men in full gear of army clothes surrounded Chamwanamuna village and started shooting," Timson Maneno told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. | |
"They surrounded the whole village so villagers could not go out anywhere - and when people started running here and there they started burning the houses." | |
He said police posted in the nearby village of Semikaro then arrived on the scene, shooting and creating a space for the villagers to escape. | |
Mohammed Morowa, a Pokomo, told the AP news agency that 11 of those killed were his relatives. | Mohammed Morowa, a Pokomo, told the AP news agency that 11 of those killed were his relatives. |
The BBC's Jamhuri Mwavyombo in Malindi, where injured villagers have been taken to hospital, says people are fleeing areas along the Tana River towards the coastal town fearing further attacks. | |
Chamwanamuna residents have been congregating at a primary school not far from the hospital, she says. | |
The Orma and Pokomo communities have a long history of tension over access to land and water. | |
The Pokomo are mostly farmers, while the Orma are semi-nomadic cattle-herders. | The Pokomo are mostly farmers, while the Orma are semi-nomadic cattle-herders. |
Some analysts say there may be a link between the violence and national elections which are due in March 2013. | Some analysts say there may be a link between the violence and national elections which are due in March 2013. |