Kenyan police disperse protest over security concerns

Police fired teargas and rubber bullets on Thursday in Kenya's main port city of Mombasa to disperse a demonstration about poor security called after gunmen killed about 65 people in attacks on the coast this weekActivists said eight people were detained from the 200 or so people who joined the protest called by rights groups after gunmen raided the town of Mpeketoni, north of Mombasa port, on Sunday night and a nearby village 24 hours later.

Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group, blamed for other deadly assaults in Kenya, claimed responsibility but President Uhuru Kenyatta dismissed that claim and accused domestic political rivals of involvement.

Kenyatta's remarks have stoked political tensions and could re-open divisions in a nation where political allegiances tend to run along ethnic lines. Government opponents have denied any role in the Mpeketoni assaults.

"We were demonstrating peacefully and telling government to stop these senseless killings (on the) coast, but police suddenly appeared and attacked us with teargas and rubber bullets," Phyllis Mwema, executive director of KECOSCE, a body that works to shield young people from radical ideas, said.
by Vitishia mueni