At a glance: Kenya flashpoints - BBC 1/29/2008

Kenya's police are struggling to restore order as ethnic gangs are rampaging across parts of the capital, Nairobi, Rift Valley and western Kenya attacking members of rival communities.

The violence began following last month's disputed presidential election but now seems to have descended into a vicious cycle of revenge attacks, leaving scores dead and thousands displaced.

Members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu community are clashing with ethnic Luos and Kalenjins, seen as opposition supporters.

NAIROBI 1300 GMT
Hundreds of mourners have been thronging the home of killed Embakasi MP Melitus Mugabe Were to convey their messages of condolences.
Women could be heard wailing from a distance, while anti-riot policemen kept vigil about 500 metres from the MPs house.
The BBC's Kevin Mwachiro in the east of the city says police dispersed dozens of youths from Mukuru slum, who had planned to march to the MP's residence to convey their condolences.
Pandemonium broke out forcing business to be disrupted at the busy industrial area. Calm has now been restored in the area.
Several schools in Embakasi constituency have been closed and students asked to resume lessons next week, due to the tension in the area.
Some shops remain closed and the residents can be seen standing around in groups discussing the MP's killing.

ELDORET, 1200 GMT
Photo journalist Micah Albert says he was attacked by a mob of several hundred people at a roadblock just outside Eldoret town.
"They had pulled down power lines and set fire to matatus [minibus taxis] and cars," he says.
"Our car was surrounded by people shouting at us and throwing stones.
"Strangely, they were saying: 'We want peace.'"
"My Kenyan friend, who recognised some of them as his friends and neighbours, got out of the car to negotiate with them but they would not stop.
"It is completely illogical. This is not the Kenya I know.
"They tried to set our car on fire.
"They only stopped when the police turned up and fired shots over their heads.
"Then we drove off to my friend's house, only using back streets, in case of more road blocks."
"There is no power in the house. I am hoping to get a military escort to the airport, so I can catch my flight back to Nairobi tomorrow."

NAIVASHA 1130 GMT
Several shops in the town centre have been broken into and torched by youths who have been patrolling the area with crude weapons.
Local resident Kennedy Aringo told the BBC News website they have formed a vigilante group including the different ethnic groups to protect themselves.
"We held a meeting and were all in agreement that those behind the killings are not from Naivasha so we have formed a security unit composed of Luos, Kikuyus and Kambas to protect ourselves," he said.

ELDORET, 1015 GMT
Two people who were allegedly members of a gang that was planning to attack homes in Langas suburb were shot dead.
"Police patrolling the Nakuru-Eldoret highway saw about 50 men armed with bows and arrows," Rift Valley province police commander Joseph Ashmalla told AFP news agency.
Two others sustained serious gunshot wounds.
The BBC's Wanyama Chebusiri says earlier the youth vandalised a section of the main Kenya-Uganda railway line during protests that have entered the second day.
Transport in and out of the town has been paralysed and policemen are engaged in running battles with the protesting youths.
Policemen from the paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) are escorting all cargo trucks destined to Uganda and the Great Lakes region.
Tension remains high within the suburbs of the town and most businesses have been closed and some residents have vacated their homes, our correspondent says.

KISUMU 1015 GMT
The BBC's Muliro Telewa says all shops in the city centre are closed, as youths have set up roadblocks.
He says they are stopping the few public transport vehicles which pass and demanding to see the identity cards of the passengers, looking for Kikuyus.
They can tell which group you come from by the name and place of birth.
"The security personnel are overwhelmed," he says.

NAIROBI, 1000 GMT
A police commander tells AFP news agency that four people were killed in a Nairobi slum.
"We have reports that three others might have been hacked to death but we cannot access them," he was quoted as saying.
Ethnic Kikuyus have been targeted after the shooting dead of an opposition MP earlier on Tuesday.

ELDORET, 0930 GMT
Kamau e-mailed to say:
"The armed gang have attacked my parents' home at 1000hrs, [local time, 0700 GMT] burnt a store with over 200 bags of maize, timber of unknown value, and stole over 10 heads of cattle and over 25 goats/sheep. They have now turned to cutting over 20acres of planted trees ready for harvesting. All this is happening because we are Kikuyu.

KAKAMEGA, 0915 GMT
Edwin Wafula e-mailed to say:
My town Kakamega is an [opposition] ODM stronghold. Today in the morning I was in town intending to travel to Nairobi but there were no vehicles, as the road to the city has witnessed horrific killings.
Kakamega is also the birthplace of Mugabe Were, the ODM lawmaker who has just been shot dead in Nairobi. The situation is critical. Thousand of displaced people, mostly Kikuyus, are camping at the station and more are pouring there in lorries.

NAIVASHA, 0900 GMT
Omar e-mailed the BBC News website to say: Naivasha is in a state of chaos. Bullets are raining down on people from planes [helicopters]. People are panicking and not sure what to do. They are trying to take refuge at the police station, Kikuyu people are trying to break into the same police station.

NAIVASHA, 0900 GMT
Military helicopters open fire over a crowd threatening members of the Luo community.
"The helicopters are dive-bombing the crowd and firing their guns," said Reuters reporter David Lewis.
The police say they are using rubber bullets.

NAIROBI 0800 GMT
Police fire tear gas at people gathered to mourn opposition MP Mugabe Were, who was shot dead earlier on Tuesday.
Two gunmen shot Mr Were as he drove to his home in a Nairobi suburb.
Police say it is not yet clear whether the killing was politically motivated.

NAIVASHA, 0730 GMT
Bogonko Bosire from the AFP news agency says police have fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of youths from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu community who wanted to attack members of opposition leader Raila Odinga's Luo group, who were under police escort.
He says the Kikuyu gang are wielding machetes and wooden clubs.
There are only a few Luos left in the town, mostly camped in the police station and prison.
He says they have no food or water and want to be taken back to their ancestral homelands in western Kenya.
But they vow they will return to take revenge.
"It is no longer about the election, it is about revenge killing," he says.

ELDORET, 0730 GMT
The BBC's Wanyama Chebusiri says youths have pulled up sections of the railway line, which connects Uganda to East Africa's main port, Mombasa in Kenya.
He says they have also knocked down a bridge which links Eldoret to western Kenya.

KISUMU, 0530 GMT
The BBC's Muliro Telewa says gangs of youths have set up roadblocks across the town.
"I can hear gun shots - the situation is out of control," he says.
He says there is little public transport - only a few taxis who are paying the youths to be allowed through.
Kisumu is seen as a stronghold of the Luo community of opposition leader Raila Odinga.
Our correspondent says it would be risky for a member of President Mwai Kibaki's ethnic group to be seen in Kisumu.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7214843.stmPublished: 2008/01/29 14:30:59 GMT