On Saturday, hundreds of raiders from Ethiopia's Dongola and Sudan's Toposa tribes attacked members of Kenya's Turkana tribe in the remote northwest border village of Soyea, killing a police reservist and stealing more than 200 cattle, national police spokesman Jaspher Ombati said.

On Sunday, the raiders returned and attacked the nearby Todoyang village, killing seven Turkana, including women and children, and stealing more than 300 head of cattle, he told AFP.

At least 30 of the raiders died in clashes that ensued when the Turkana mounted counter-attacks and security forces pursued the marauders, Ombati said, adding that mediation efforts were currently under way.

"Authorities from both sides involved are currently pursuing the matter with a view of reaching peaceful settlement," Ombati said.

He and other officials said security had been beefed up in the area.

"We have deployed enough security in the area and we have intensive patrols," said Njenga Miiri, the Turkana District Commissioner. "In this instance, the Dongolas and Toposas attacked together, but luckily we had our security posts in the area who acted very fast."

"I don't have the exact number of people injured, but there were dozens and some have been admitted to hospitals," he told AFP from the district headquarters of Lodwar, about 510 kilometers (320 miles) northwest of Nairobi.

Rival tribes in the three neighboring east African countries have a history of attacking each other but there are fears that current drought, which has put some 11 million people at risk of starvation across east Africa and already killed thousands of livestock, may exacerbate tensions.

Officials say the drought, which has claimed at least 40 lives in northern Kenya, has forced the country's nomadic pastoralist tribes to migrate further north in search of water and pasture for their animals, increasing chances of attacks from their rivals in southern Sudan and Ethiopia.

"The drought forced the Turkana to migrate to unsafe areas in the north near their enemies, who apparently took advantage and attacked them," said one. "This is a direct result of the drought and (the fact) that the government has failed to deliver food to the extremely northern areas."

Hundreds of already at-risk villagers displaced by the raids have now been placed in further danger, according to aid workers in the region.

Miiri, the district commissioner, said the food situation in the region was deteriorating and many cows, goats and camels were dying, adding more misery to the livestock-dependent population.

"The situation in the whole district is worsening every day," he said.

Meanwhile, President Mwai Kibaki, who declared the current famine a national disaster on New Year's Day, urged various government arms to coordinate their efforts to avert more deaths among the 3.5 to four million Kenyans threatened by starvation.

"Let me remind you all of the need to efficiently coordinate our interventions as we deal with the current famine that I declared a national disaster," Kibaki told a meeting of government ministers and senior officials in the capital, according to a statement from his office.

Later, he received contributions from local donors amounting to 708,000 dollars (586,981 euros) and urged Kenyans to give more to assist their countrymen and women.

"I would like to ask Kenyans of goodwill and especially companies to come forward and donate towards this worthy cause as part of their corporate responsibility," Kibaki said.

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