KENYA: Death toll from police attack on opposition supporters rises to 5

The death toll arising from a police attack on opposition supporters who were following a convoy carrying Raila Odinga from the airport to central Nairobi in Kenya has risen from two to five.

Police and supporters clashed as Odinga returned to Kenya from a trip abroad with officers using live ammunition, tear gas and water cannon to break up large crowds cheering Odinga’s convoy from the airport.

Moments after the attack, Odinga, leader of the National Super Alliance (NASA), in a statement said that authorities had also used “armed militia and live bullets” to disperse supporters, which led to the “killing [of] several and maiming [of] many”.

Read also: KENYA: Police attack Odinga’s convoy, 2 opposition supporters killed

Amnesty International urged Kenyan police to stop using live ammunition, saying it had received reports of at least three deaths, while TV footage showed another man being shot in the leg.

“Firearms can only be used when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life,” said Abdullahi Halakhe, the group’s East Africa researcher.

“The indiscriminate use of live ammunition is totally unacceptable. Firearms must never be used to disperse crowds.”

The incident is coming two days after Chief Justice David Maraga of the Supreme Court in Kenya ordered the country’s election board to grant poll returns to petitioners contesting President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election victory.

Justice Maraga who also said a copy of the voter register must be sent to the petitioners, made the ruling while addressing state prosecutors in court over the election matter.

 

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