One policeman killed, two wounded in attack on Kenya coast camp
Fri Dec 12, 2014 3:33pm GMT
(Adds number of guns stolen, Kenyatta's comment)
MOMBASA, Kenya Dec 12 (Reuters) - Suspected separatists killed a Kenyan
policeman and critically wounded two more when they attacked a camp in the
coastal county of Kilifi, a senior regional official said on Friday.
Albert Kobia, the county commissioner for Kilifi, said machete-wielding
attackers raided the police camp in the Mwanamwinga area late on Thursday
night, killing the corporal in charge.
Kobia said four of the attackers went to the camp posing as members of the
public seeking help. "Over 20 men then suddenly appeared from the darkness
and started attacking the officers who were on duty. They escaped with two
guns," he said.
"We think the MRC are involved," he said, referring to the Mombasa
Republican Council -- a separatist group that wants independence for Kenya's
Indian Ocean coastal regions, citing decades of neglect by the government in
Nairobi.
Randu Nzai, the secretary general of MRC, rejected the accusation. "We are
not even aware of any attack in the first place. As usual the government is
using us as a scapegoat," he told Reuters.
The MRC is an outlawed group that lost most of its strength in heavy
crackdowns by the government in 2012 and 2013. It had carried out several
violent raids in the area before then.
This year, Kenya's coastal strip has borne the brunt of frequent gun and
grenade attacks, mostly blamed on Islamist militants from neighbouring
Somalia.
The violence has caused a slump in tourism, an economic mainstay for the
region and an important source of foreign exchange for Kenya.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said the east African nation was facing
extra-ordinary challenges due to internal and external security threats like
radical elements in Somalia.
"An international war is happening in and outside Kenya's borders," Kenyatta
told a ceremony to mark the country's independence from Britain 51 years
ago.
"Kenya must enhance its ability to detect, monitor and eliminate security
threats," he said, citing amendments before parliament, designed to
strengthen the security agencies. (Reporting by Joseph Akwiri; Writing by
Duncan Miriri; Editing by Crispian Balmer)