Clashes over grazing land, water kill 48 in Kenya

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Attackers armed with machetes, bows and arrows and spears killed at least 48 villagers and set houses ablaze in Kenya's coastal region overnight in an attack over land and water, police said on Wednesday.

"They were armed with crude weapons: machetes, bows and arrows and spears. Some had guns. As a result we have lost 31 women, 11 children and six men, all totaling to 48. Sixty cattle were also killed," Robert Kitur, Coast deputy police chief told Reuters by telephone.

Cattle rustling and clashes over grazing and farming land and water are relatively common among pastoralist communities in the arid patches of east Africa and often escalate into revenge attacks.

(Reporting by Joseph Akwiri; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alison Williams)