Kenya Killings: Clashes In Tana River District Kill At Least 48 People

Scores of people, the majority women and children, were killed in ethnic violence in the Tana River district of Kenya on Tuesday.

"It is a very bad incident.... [The victims] include 31 women, 11 children and six men. 34 were hacked to death and 14 others were burnt to death," said Joseph Kitur, the regional deputy police chief for the area, according to the AFP.

The violence, which took place in the coastal region of Kenya, was between the Orma and Pokomo groups. BBC News reports that the two groups have been embroiled in a long history of conflict, caught up in a cycle of revenge killings over the theft of cattle, as well as grazing and water rights.

Kenya's Capital FM quoted a police source as saying they believed that the Pokomo attacked the Orma people on Tuesday.

The killings constitute the single worst incident of violence in the country since 2007, when a wave of post-election violence led to the deaths of 1,200 people.