At least 30 people were killed during a village raid by militiamen on Tuesday in one of the deadliest such attacks in northeastern Kenya, police said. Police said most of the 22 villagers killed in the early morning attack on Elgolicha village near Mandera on the Somali border were women and children. Eight militiamen were also killed. "Thirty people have been killed so far, 22 are the victims of the attack who are mostly women and children and eight of the attackers have been shot down by security forces and they are still pursuing them," police spokesman Jasper Ombati said. The area has been the scene of previous fierce fighting between rival Somali clans, which local leaders say have been fuelled by disputes over natural resources and politics. Ombati said the attackers had fled further north with Kenyan police flown in from Nairobi in hot pursuit. He said investigations had been launched to find out whether the militia had links with groups in Somalia or Ethiopia. "We believe they are militiamen from the Murule clan," he said.
