KENYA: More security officials killed in attack by Coastal separatist group

Record ID: 362506

  • Title: KENYA: More security officials killed in attack by Coastal separatist group
  • Date: 4th March 2013
  • Summary: KILIFI, KENYA (MARCH 04, 2013)4:3(REUTERS) CHUMANI SECONDARY SCHOOL SIGN BROKEN SCHOOL GATES MRC (MOMBASA REPUBLICAN COUNCIL) SIGN ON THE GROUND, READING; "MRC. Coast is not Kenya. We don't want elections. We want our own country." KENYA RED CROSS OFFICIALS WALKING PAST KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE OFFICERS DEAD KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE OFFICER VARIOUS OF DEAD OFFICER ON THE GROUN
  • Embargoed: 19th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA2DANQIJ5M4MW8XRH9TGSQHEX0
  • Story Text: The death toll in Kenya's restive coastal region rose to at least 17 on Monday (March 4, 2013) in two attacks on police by machete-wielding men hours before voting began in a tense presidential election.
    Kenyan authorities suspect the attacks were carried out by members of the coastal separatist group MRC (Mombasa Republican Council) who had threatened to disrupt voting if their demand for secession of the Indian Ocean coastal strip was not met.
    The attackers are reported to have ambushed a security unit early this morning killing four officers before rampaging through a voting centre located in a local secondary school killing more security personel deployed to guard voting material.
    A sign left on the ground reads: "MRC. Coast is not Kenya. We don't want elections. We want our own country."
    This years election race, like the 2007, has come down to a high-stakes head-to-head between two candidates, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta. Both will depend heavily on votes from loyalists from their tribes.
    Though well ahead of six other contenders, polls suggest neither Odinga nor Kenyatta may be able to command enough ballots for an outright victory in the first round. That could set the stage for a tense run-off tentatively set for April 11. A narrow first-round victory for either candidate could raise prospects for legal challenges.
    Kenya's neighbours are watching nervously, after their economies felt the shockwaves when the violence five years ago shut down trade routes running through east Africa's biggest economy. Some landlocked states have stockpiled fuel and other materials.
    The United States and other Western countries are worried about the election in a country seen as a vital ally in the regional battle against militant Islam. Adding to election tensions, al Shabaab militants, battling Kenyan peacekeeping troops in Somalia, issued a veiled threat days before the vote.
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