Dwindling fish sparks fierce feuds in Kenya's Lake Turkana

LOWERENGAK, Kenya (AFP) - A once bountiful lake in Kenya's parched northwest has turned into a nightmare for local fishermen, forced into deeper waters and hostile zones in search of fish migrating from receding southern shores.

Weapons, mainly AK 47 assault rifles, have been added to their usual gear alongside the poles and nets.

Lake Turkana, the northernmost of Kenya's Rift Valley lakes and fed mainly by an Ethiopian source, is like so much else here a victim of a drought that is ravaging east Africa.

Ebenyou Lokitare, a teenage fisherman, nurses a bullet wound on his right arm after surviving an attack by armed Ethiopian fishermen who killed three of his colleagues on a recent expedition to the lake's north in search of food.

"We were in the lake for three days but we had not caught any fish at all. At about 4:00 am, we were woken up by gunshots," said Lokitare, whose bandaged arm is suspended in a sling. "Those who attacked us were Ethiopians."