At least 48 Kenyans have been hacked or burnt to death in ethnic clashes between two rival groups, Pokomo and Oromo, in southeastern Kenya.

At least 48 Kenyans have been hacked or burnt to death in ethnic clashes between two rival groups, Pokomo and Oromo, in southeastern Kenya. Police said the tragedy is the worst single attack since deadly post-election violence four years ago.

Police say 34 people were hacked to death and 14 others were burnt to death, while several huts were torched after a gang of men launched the attack.

"They [victims] include 31 women, 11 children and six men," Agence France Presse quoted regional deputy police Chief Joseph Kitur as saying.

The scale and ferocity of the killings shocked police.

It was not clear what sparked the attack, but the two communities have clashed before over the use of land and water resources.

In 2001, at least 130 people were killed in a string of clashes in the same district and between the same two communities about access to land and a river.

Lawmaker Danson Mungatana, who represented the area, said the problems between the two ethnic groups have been around for a while.

About 10 days ago three Pokomo were killed by the Orma community.

"In revenge, the Orma raided villages occupied by the Pokomo and burnt down more than 100 houses. Now the Pokomo have once again revenged [sic] by killing about 50 people. These are purely revenge attacks," he stated.