Armed men burn Kenya police camp Mombasa - Armed assailants have attacked a camp of police reservists and burned down nearby homes and businesses, a regional official said on Tuesday, as violence escalates on Kenyas northern coast. But there were no reported deaths this time. In the nearby coastal town of Lamu, residents also reported finding leaflets strewn about, apparently from a Somali Islamist group, threatening Christians and the government. The government has promised to track down those behind attacks on coastal towns and villages, most of which have been deadly, but worried locals say the repeated assaults show the state is not doing enough or is powerless to stop them. Hundreds of families have fled homes in Lamu County, where the worst attacks have occurred, sheltering in camps near police posts or fleeing the region altogether. A once vibrant tourist trade in the area and all along the coast has been hammered. The assailants attacked a camp belonging to Kenya police reservists in Hindi and burnt it down before they burnt down other houses and businesses in Amu Ranch, Lamu County Commissioner Miiri Njenga told Reuters. The attackers, who struck late on Monday, also set vehicles on fire. Hindi was the site of an attack on Saturday that killed 9 people and Amu Ranch is nearby. Both are close to Mpeketoni area, the site of two assaults in mid-June that left 65 people dead. Raising tensions, residents of Lamu, a historic Arab trading port and capital of the county, said leaflets were spread in the town warning Christians and the government not to victimise Muslims, without saying what could happen if they did. The leaflets, which were pinned to electricity polls and trees or simply found strewn on the ground, bore the emblem of the al-Shabaab Islamist group, which claims most attacks and has vowed to drive Kenyan and African Union forces out of Somalia. #GIBBOH
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 14:50:05 +0000