Kenyan Civil War Raging:Deathtoll reaches 14 since last week

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Death Toll From Recent Fighting In Kenya Reaches 14 - AFP


NAKURU, Kenya (AFP)--The death toll from fighting between two Kenyan tribes has risen to 14 since last week, police said Monday, after fresh attacks erupted in the area in the country's Rift Valley region.

The violence, which started last Thursday around the town of Laikipia, northwest of Nairobi, appeared to be a cycle of revenge attacks following the killing of a woman.

Local police commander Olta Aliwa said four people were wounded in new attacks Monday and that police reinforcements had been sent to quell the fighting, which involves mainly the Kikuyu and Kalenjin tribes.

"I can confirm that arsonists struck from this morning, about 15 houses have been burnt and people are fleeing the area," Aliwa said.

The east African country is reeling from one of its worst crises since independence in 1963 following disputed December elections that sparked widespread violence, in which some 1,500 people were killed.

On Feb. 28 opposition leader Raila Odinga - who accused President Mwai Kibaki of stealing the elections - signed a power-sharing deal with his rival to end the violence.

The crisis tapped into simmering resentment over land, poverty and the dominance of the Kikuyu, Kibaki's tribe, in Kenyan politics and business since independence.