10 killed in communal clashes in southeastern Kenya

At least 10 people, including five children, have been killed in renewed clashes between rival communities in a village in the southeastern Kenyan province of Coast.

The clashes broke out when Orma community attackers carrying guns and machetes raided the village of Kibusu inhabited by the Pokomo community in the Tana River area on Thursday.

“There are 10 dead and two critically wounded, with gunshot wounds, machete cuts and burns,” said Caleb Kilunde, a local official with the International Community of the Red Cross.

Nineteen houses were reportedly set on fire during the raid.

On Wednesday, at least nine people were killed by Pokomo raiders in a nearby Orma community village.

Since August, 2012, violence between the two communities has claimed the lives of more than 100 people.

In August, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Kenya Aeneas C. Chuma laid the blame for the tit-for-tat cycle of killings on political demarcations and rivalry among potential candidates ahead of next year’s presidential election.

More than 1,000 were killed in 2007 when Kenya last held a general election.

In September, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki imposed a curfew on the area and deployed security forces in order to end the violence.