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Kenya Tana River Delta clashes: Mass grave claim dismissed | Kenya Tana River Delta clashes: Mass grave claim dismissed |
(35 minutes later) | |
Kenya's police have called off the exhumation of two alleged mass graves in the Tana River Delta, saying they only found a human foot there. | |
They suspect four bodies had earlier been removed. | |
Earlier this week, regional police chief Aggrey Adoli told journalists that an unknown number of bodies were at the two sites. | Earlier this week, regional police chief Aggrey Adoli told journalists that an unknown number of bodies were at the two sites. |
More than 100 people have been killed in clashes in the area in the past month. | More than 100 people have been killed in clashes in the area in the past month. |
The long-running conflict is between the Pokomo people - mostly farmers growing cash crops by the Tana River - and the Orma, semi-nomadic cattle herders. | The long-running conflict is between the Pokomo people - mostly farmers growing cash crops by the Tana River - and the Orma, semi-nomadic cattle herders. |
There are accusations that politicians have incited the violence ahead of elections next March. | There are accusations that politicians have incited the violence ahead of elections next March. |
Mr Adoli has acknowledged that there were no mass graves but has not yet explained where the earlier information came from. | |
A court order was obtained and a team of pathologists and gravediggers were sent to the remote region. | |
The head of the operation, Antony Kamitu, told the BBC that they believe four bodies were removed before the police found the graves and sealed off the area. | |
"We believed the bodies were removed to hide the identities. Our plan was to take fingerprints of the bodies and that would have led us to their origins," he said. | |
"So the operation is now called off." |