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| Kenya Tana River Delta clashes: 'Mass graves' mystery | Kenya Tana River Delta clashes: 'Mass graves' mystery |
| (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. | 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. | 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 acknowledged that no bodies had been found and said it was "strange", the AFP news agency reports. | |
| "The appearance of the area and the heavy stench of rotting flesh pointed towards the existence of a grave," he said, suggesting the site may have been tampered with. | |
| A court order was obtained and a team of pathologists and gravediggers were sent to the remote region. | 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 inside one of the graves, they had individual cavities which had been dug for four bodies. | |
| He says he believes they 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. | "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." | "So the operation is now called off." |