LODWAR, Kenya , Jan 19 2006 (AP) – A battle for livestock between Ethiopian and Kenyan nomads has left 38 people dead in drought-stricken northern Kenya , where tribes are desperately searching for food, pasture and water to survive, officials and aid workers said Thursday.

Dongiro warriors crossed into Kenya last Friday and attacked Turkana herdsmen to steal their animals, said Njenga Miiri, the district commissioner for Turkana. The fighting killed 30 of the Dongiro raiders and eight Kenyans, all of them women and children.

The clashes took place in the remote village of Lokamarinyang , along the Kenya-Ethiopia border and 260 miles north of Lodwar, aid worker Lucas Ariong said.

News of the battle only reached the regional capital on Thursday morning, nearly a week later.

Millions are suffering from hunger in eastern Africa because of drought and mismanagement of available resources. Preliminary assessments show those affected include an estimated 3.5 million in Kenya, 1.75 million in Ethiopia, 1.4 million in Somalia and 60,000 in Djibouti.

Cattle rustling by nomadic tribes in the semiarid region that encompasses northern Kenya , Uganda , southern Sudan and Ethiopia is common, and the tribes in the area do not respect national borders.

A drought that has impoverished some 11.5 million people in the area, most of them nomads, has exacerbated tensions between the tribes.

Ariong said the Turkana had moved into Lokamarinyang, which is usually uninhabited because it is in a disputed area along the border, in search of fresh pasture and water. Because the area has been off limits, the area was in pristine condition, he said.

More than 15,000 Turkana have left their normal grazing areas because of the drought, he added.

"The herders are desperate and have no option, this is why they moved there to get pasture for their dying animals, with full knowledge that the area is insecure," Ariong said.

Ariong said about 100 young Ethiopian warriors, who recently had undergone a ritual marking their transition into adulthood, were from the Naita area of southern Ethiopia and were carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles when they went to confront the Turkana.

He said they were apparently trying to demonstrate their bravery by raiding the Turkana settlement and stealing 300 cows and goats.

Turkana warriors pursued the Dongiro men and eventually caught up with them, killed 30 raiders and took back their livestock, Miiri said. Kenyan police and soldiers have been dispatched to the area, he said.

Aid workers have expressed concern that as water sources dry up and livestock begin to die because of the drought, such attacks will become more common.