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At least 39 people have been killed in Kenya in fresh clashes between rival communities in the Tana River district, police say.

The attack by ethnic Pokomo farmers on an Orma village, Kipao, came in the early hours of the morning, they say.

Thirteen children and six women were among those killed.

Police say the latest attack was revenge for the killing of more than 100 villagers earlier this year, but some say the raids are political.

Elections are due in March 2013.

Police say that there have been casualties on both sides. Houses were reportedly burnt and villagers cut down with machetes.

Some victims bled to death as they were unable to be treated in time.

“About 150 Pokomo raiders attacked Kipao village, which is inhabited by the Ormas, early on Friday. The Ormas appeared to have been aware and were prepared,” Robert Kitur, Coast Region deputy police chief, told reporters.

He said police were pursuing the raiders, who used firearms, spears, machetes and arrows.

Villagers in the area have fled their homes in fear of revenge attacks, aid workers say.

The Red Cross say they know of at least 30 dead and 30 others seriously wounded, including a one-year-old child. More than 40 houses were set ablaze.

Search teams are said to be combing the area around Kipao, looking for further victims.

Police reinforcements and emergency officials are being flown to the scene, while the wounded are being taken to the port city of Mombasa for treatment.

In August, the two communities clashed after members of the Orma community were accused of grazing their cattle on land that the Pokomo say is theirs.

Settled Pokomo farmers and semi-nomadic Orma pastoralists have clashed intermittently for years over access to grazing, farmland and water in the coastal region.

Police, who have been camping out in the remote region, have been trying to disarm the two groups.

Tensions between the two communities have risen in recent days, they say.

Many suspect a political motive lies behind the attack.

Following the violence in August and September, an MP from the region, Assistant Livestock Minister, Dhadho Godhana, was arrested for inciting violence. He denies the charges.

The UN says the clashes may be related to the redrawing of political boundaries ahead of next year’s general election.

The last election in 2007 was marred by widespread clashes, in which more than 1,300 people were killed.

Four prominent Kenyans have been charged by the International Criminal Court over that violence.

Two of them have formed an alliance to contest the March election – their trial is due to begin a month later in The Hague.

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At least 48 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in Coast Province, south-eastern Kenya, police say.

The clashes in Tana River district, Coast Province, took place late on Tuesday between the Orma and Pokomo groups, the region’s police chief said.

Most of the dead were women and children, many of whom were hacked to death with machetes, he said.

The clash is the worst single incident since violence rocked the country after disputed polls four years ago.

The clashes in Tana River district, Coast Province, took place late on Tuesday between the Orma and Pokomo groups

The clashes in Tana River district, Coast Province, took place late on Tuesday between the Orma and Pokomo groups

Regional deputy police chief Joseph Kitur told AFP news agency that those killed were either hacked to death or burned alive when their huts were set alight.

The attack is believed to have escalated from a dispute over grazing rights for cattle.

The victims included 31 women, 11 children and six men, Joseph Kitur said. It is unclear whether any of the perpetrators have been arrested.

Joseph Kitur said that, according to investigations, the attack had been carried out by the Pokomo on the Orma.

Danson Mungatana, the lawmaker for the area, said the killings were the latest in a string of attacks and cattle raids and had been taken in retaliation for a previous incident.

“There have been problems simmering for a while,” he told AFP.

Violence between the two communities is often reported, but not on such a huge scale.

There is long-standing enmity between the communities, who get caught up in a cycle of revenge killings over the theft of cattle and grazing and water rights.

In 2001, a series of clashes between the Orma and Pokomo left at least 130 dead in the same region.

The semi-arid region is one of the poorest in Kenya, with very little infrastructure or industry.

The government recently created a ministry to promote development in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid areas, but there has been little improvement in peoples’ lives, our reporter adds.

The violence comes as Kenya prepares for elections early next year. More than a 1,200 people were killed and 600,000 displaced in the months following the last election in 2007.

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