Hundreds of Kenyans 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 tribesman 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.
The reinforcements arrived after about 100 Pokot fighters armed with automatic rifles raided a farm in the Luhya village of Beketi, about 330km north-west of the capital, Nairobi, and stole about 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 semiarid 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 north-west of Nairobi.
An uneasy quiet has returned to the area, but schools and businesses remain closed in Karima, a trading area where most of the clashes occurred. Families plan to bury 11 of those killed next week.
About 500 people who fled their homes remain in two makeshift camps on the grounds of a Roman Catholic church and a satellite earth station. The victims say they will only return to their homes after the government guarantees their security. — Sapa-AP