A youth of non-Somali ethinicity armed with stones stands on November 19,
2012 during inter-ethnic clashes in Nairobi's Eastleigh suburb.
Garissa, Kenya -
Fresh violence broke out in Kenya's restive north-east on Tuesday, with
eight people shot and wounded, a day after security forces cracked down on
rioters.
Several other people were also hospitalised, some of them after being beaten
with clubs by security forces in a crackdown following the killing of three
soldiers in Garissa, a garrison town near the border with war-torn Somalia.
The violence is separate from riots that shook the capital Nairobi on
Monday, although both broke out following attacks that resembled a recent
string of grenade blasts and shootings blamed on supporters of Somalia's
al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.
"This morning, Kenya Red Cross rescued four males, four females and two
children, eight of them being gunshot casualties," the local Red Cross said
in a statement, adding that 34 other casualties were taken to Garissa
hospital.
Musa Mohamed, a doctor at the hospital, said that "at least 15 people were
admitted this morning with various injuries."
Garissa's main market was torched during the violence that broke out on
Monday, after unknown gunmen killed three soldiers in town, sparking a
security crackdown that provoked violent protests.
Small scuffles were also reported on Tuesday in Nairobi's Eastleigh
district, a predominantly ethnic Somali neighbourhood, but on a far smaller
scale than Monday, when street battles took place the day after a bomb blast
on a bus killed nine people.
Senior Shebab official Abduaziz Abu Musab denied involvement in Sunday's
bomb blast in Nairobi, but said it was possible "some sympathisers of our
cause acted alone" in the shooting of the soldiers in Garissa.
"We are categorically denying any involvement in the bus attack in Eastleigh
at the weekend," Musab told AFP, blaming the violence on Kenya's elections
due in March 2013.
"The violence is instead related to the upcoming election in Kenya and was
masterminded to harm the Muslims in Kenya," he told AFP.
The Shebab have vowed revenge after Kenya invaded southern Somalia last year
to chase out the Islamist fighters, although the group has not claimed
direct responsibility for any attack.
Violence in Kenya - ranging from attacks blamed on Islamists to
inter-communal clashes to a police crackdown on a coastal separatist
movement - have raised concerns over security ahead of next year's
elections.
Five years ago, elections descended into deadly post-poll killings that
shattered Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability. - Sapa-AFP
