Nairobi - The death toll from fighting between rival herders over stolen cattle in northern Kenya has risen as security forces deploy to stem three weeks of clashes, police said on Wednesday.
With violence continuing in three provinces where more than 10 000 people have been forced to flee their homes since late last month, a teenage boy was shot dead on Monday, bringing to 13 the number killed, they said.
The latest death occurred in Laikipia district at the northern end of the central Rift Valley province, provincial police chief Everette Wasike said.
"There are attacks going on in various parts of the province, but I am currently touring around to assess our deployment to see where we can improve," Wasike told AFP from the province's conflict-ravaged Samburu district.
Newspaper reports have put the death toll at as high as 15, but officials could not confirm that figure.
Kenyan authorities at the weekend boosted security along the volatile Kenya-Ethiopian border when the confirmed death toll stood at 12 and Red Cross officials said more than 10 000 people had been displaced in the Rift Valley, Northeastern and Eastern provinces.
Northern Kenya - which covers broad swathes of the three provinces Nsits at the crux of northeastern Uganda, southern Sudan, southern Ethiopia and lawless Somalia's southwest, all areas of instability that have fuelled tribal unrest.
The dire situation has been compounded by the effects of a searing drought that has hit east Africa, putting at risk some 15
million people in five countries as well as their livestock.
Even in non-drought conditions deadly clashes over water and pasture in the area are common and efforts by regional governments to ease tensions and reduce the huge number of weapons in circulation have largely failed.
The inability to control the area became shockingly clear in northern Kenya last year when two rival clans staged attacks and counter-attacks that left 82 people dead just 150km north of the town of Marsabit.
Last week, a military plane carrying officials, including two assistant ministers, on a mission to restore peace crashed near Marsabit, killing 14 and throwing mediation efforts into limbo. - Sapa-AFP