By George Mwangi
Special to DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NAIROBI--At least 310 people have been killed and more than
220,000 forced to flee their homes in Kenya this year because of
inter-communal violence, the United Nations humanitarian office has
said.
U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in
the first 10 months of the year 310 people had lost their lives,
214 had been injured and just over 220,000 had fled their homes
amid a growing number of attacks on civilians and an upsurge in
terrorist activity, particularly in areas adjacent to the
Kenya-Somalia border.
"Violent conflicts involving pastoralists have become widespread
and increasingly severe in the northern Rift Valley and
north-eastern regions of Kenya," it said Thursday.
Revenge attacks, competition over land and water resources,
cattle rustling, as well as struggles over political representation
have resulted in the conflicts in northern Kenya, where Tullow Oil
PLC (TLW.LN) and partner Africa Oil Corp. (AOI.T) have made oil
discoveries.
Cattle-rustling has been endemic in northern Kenya but in recent
years have turned more deadly due to availability of illegal small
arms coming in from South Sudan and Somalia.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday fired the interior cabinet
secretary Joseph ole Lenku and the police chief David Kimaiyo
following an attack claimed by Somalia's al-Qaeda affiliated
al-Shabaab rebels in northeast Mandera county that killed 36 quarry
workers.
Write to George Mwangi at realtimedesklondon@dowjones.com
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