Hundreds flee their homes

2005-01-28 14:22

Kitale - Hundreds of people fled their homes and farms in the western district of Trans Nzoia on Friday, one day after Pokot herdsmen attacked a farm owned by a Luhya in a simmering two-month-old tribal dispute over scarce pasture and water.

Police and army reinforcements arrived in the area on Friday to prevent further attacks, said Christopher Musumbu, the Trans Nzoia district commissioner.

Local officials have said that Pokot tribesmen have killed at least 18 people since November in attacks on Luhya farmers.

At least 200 people fled their homes and farms on Friday aboard five trucks, seeking refuge in Trans Nzoia's main town, Kitale. About 1 200 others fled their homes on Thursday.

Bodies lying about

The reinforcements arrived after about 100 Pokot fighters armed with automatic rifles raided a farm in the Luhya village of Beketi, about 330km northwest of the capital, Nairobi, and stole some 40 cattle.

Paramilitary troops pursued the raiders and attacked them with gunfire and grenades, witnesses said, adding that the Pokot returned fire as they fled.

At least two bodies were lying at the scene on Thursday, though witnesses said they believed a number of other Pokot warriors were also killed.

Fights over water and pasture are common in Kenya, two-thirds of which is either arid or semi-arid land.

In a separate conflict, at least 16 people were killed in weekend clashes between Maasai and Kikuyu tribesmen over scarce water in Mai Mahiu, about 60km northwest of Nairobi.

- AP