KENYA: Thirteen people are reported dead and more than 10,000 Kenyans have fled their homes during a week of tribal clashes in the remote north of the country.
Armed cattle rustlers are blamed for sparking the violence as the region's beleaguered nomadic communities attempt to restock their animal herds, ravaged by a bitter drought.
The Kenya Red Cross Society is trying to deliver food, medicine and tarpaulins to people who have been forced to flee their homelands close to the border with Ethiopia.
Abbas Gullet, its secretary general, said: "People are running for their lives, camping out in church and school grounds, wherever they can find shelter, and these people need urgent assistance." Years of poor rainfall have brought more than 11 million people in the Horn of Africa to the brink of famine.
Nomadic, pastoralist communities are the worst affected. In some areas they have lost up to 80 per cent of their herds to hunger and thirst. As a result, herders have ventured further afield to find water and pasture for their goats, cattle and camels.
But this has meant that rival tribes have wandered onto each other's territories, reigniting centuries-old animosity.
Heavy rains began falling at the start of April, giving the tribes a chance to think about rebuilding their herds, explained Mr Gullet.
He added that the simmering tensions and the availability of weapons from civil wars in southern Sudan, Uganda and Somalia made for an explosive mix.
"The violence seems to be worse this time around. There are so many more guns in the region that the raiders are more likely to kill people," he said.
Clashes have been reported along the Ethiopian border between the Boran and Gabra, who are accused of straying on to Boran land.
Further south, heavily-armed Pokot communities have taken on the Samburu. Many of the tribes have a tradition of stealing each other's livestock.
Raids are often seen as a "rite of passage" for young warriors in a part of the country were wealth is counted in the size of herds.
The northern regions have largely been neglected since colonial times and government resources are scarce.
Last week the potential for violence was highlighted when a military plane carrying Kenyan politicians on a peace mission to bring together rival leaders crashed in poor weather, killing 14 people.