The death toll from this week's bandit attack in northern Kenya has risen to 80, police told reporters in Nairobi Friday. Of these, 65 were civilians, 26 of them children, and 15 were bandits, said police. Thousands of animals were stolen by the bandits. The violence began early Tuesday morning when bandits attacked villages in the trading centre of Turbi and surrounding area near Marsabit, more than 500 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi. Survivors report that several hundred bandits armed with AK-47 rifles, sub-machine guns, and hand-grenades surrounded a primary school and other locations in the area, dpa reported. The bandits are believed to be from the Borana ethnic group, while most of the victims were from the Gabra ethnic group. The two have long been fighting over access to pasture and watering points in the area, said dpa. Police spokesman Jaspher Ombati told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Friday that investigators are still trying to determine the cause of this week's violence. "Some theories are hinging on a political line, some are hinging on the struggle for the natural resources there, and so on," he told dpa. The BBC reports that some 2,000 elite soldiers are in the north to track down the killers and prevent further revenge attacks between the two ethnic groups. According to the broadcaster, about 6,000 people have fled to the main town of Marsabit. -- SP 2333 Local Time 2033 GMT
