Source: allAfrica.com
9 September 2009 - Though malnutrition is increasing and ActionAid staff have witnessed two deaths from hunger, armed conflict is currently the deadliest manifestation of Kenya’s prolonged drought.
A clash between rival clans over water, on 17th August, left six people dead at Kambi Garba, near Isiolo in north-east Kenya. ActionAid temporarily suspended distribution of food aid for one week in Isiolo district for security reasons and only resumed after police escort was provided.
In the arid north-east and north-west of Kenya, clashes are generally between rival groups of pastoralists. Cattle rustling is on the increase as pastoralists try to replace animals that have died in the drought.
Some of those involved are armed with crude weapons or illegal firearms. Porous borders have led to the proliferation of arms from Somalia and Ethiopia, further compounding the existing volatile situation.
Further south in Tana River district, there has been conflict between settled farmers and nomadic pastoralists who have allowed their herds to stray onto the farmers’ land.
At least 38 people have lost their lives in conflicts triggered by contests over food and water, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). [...]
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