Nairobi - At least 48 Kenyans were hacked or burnt to death in ethnic clashes between two rival groups, the worst single attack since deadly post-election violence four years ago, police said Wednesday. Most of the victims were women and children killed by attackers armed with machetes and spears.
The clash is the worst single incident since violence rocked the country after disputed polls four years ago.
"It is a very bad incident.... They include 31 women, 11 children and six men," regional deputy police chief Joseph Kitur said of the attack, which took place late Tuesday between the Pokomo and Orma peoples in the rural Tana River district.
Kitur said "34 were hacked to death and 14 others were burnt to death," while several huts were torched after a gang of men launched the attack, the latest in a long history of bitter clashes between the rival groups in the remote area of Kenya.
It was not clear what sparked the attack, but the two communities have clashed before over the use of land and water resources, although the scale and intensity of the killings shocked police.
The attack happened in the Reketa area of Tarassa in Kenya's south-east, close to the coast and some 300 kilometres (185 miles) from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
However, the Red Cross said it had counted 59 dead bodies, according to the Reuters news agency, suggesting the death toll could be higher still.
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, Mr Kitur said. It is unclear whether any of the perpetrators have been arrested.
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 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.
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
In 2001, at least 130 people were killed in a string of clashes in the same district and between the same two communities about access to land and a river.
The violence comes as Kenya is poised 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.