UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- UNICEF issued an international appeal for $6.6 million to feed and protect women and children in embattled Kenya.
A statement from the U.N. headquarters said there are some 300 displacement camps in the country where tribal fighting has killed at least 900 people since disputed elections on Dec. 27.
"We've come through several days of some of the most atrocious violence against children and women that Kenya has ever seen," said UNICEF Kenya Chief of Communication Sarah Cameron.
The agency said 300,000 people had fled their homes to escape machete- and club-wielding who have also reportedly set people on fire.
The appeal said there are 80,000 children under the age of 5 in the displacement camps, 70 percent of whom are being fed UNIMIX, a high-protein porridge that helps prevent malnutrition.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan began brokering peace talks this week in Nairobi between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
