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| Gruesome Attacks in Kenyan Villages Kill More Than 20 | Gruesome Attacks in Kenyan Villages Kill More Than 20 |
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| NAIROBI, Kenya — More than 20 people were killed in two attacks on Kenya’s coast Saturday night — with residents saying the victims had their hands bound and their throats slit — in the latest in a string of gruesome assaults with ethnic undercurrents. | NAIROBI, Kenya — More than 20 people were killed in two attacks on Kenya’s coast Saturday night — with residents saying the victims had their hands bound and their throats slit — in the latest in a string of gruesome assaults with ethnic undercurrents. |
| The violence has deeply unnerved this country at a time of increasing insecurity and rising political tensions. Nonetheless, Kenya’s leading opposition politician, Raila Odinga, vowed on Sunday to press ahead with a large demonstration in downtown Nairobi, the capital, on Monday. | The violence has deeply unnerved this country at a time of increasing insecurity and rising political tensions. Nonetheless, Kenya’s leading opposition politician, Raila Odinga, vowed on Sunday to press ahead with a large demonstration in downtown Nairobi, the capital, on Monday. |
| The Kenyan government fears opposition supporters may try to occupy a public park, setting up what could be a bloody showdown with the police. Government officials said that such a sit-in would be illegal and that they would not allow the center of Nairobi to be turned into a Kenyan version of Tahrir Square, the plaza in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, that became the foremost symbol of the Arab Spring uprisings. | |
| Many Kenyans are worried about the Monday rally given the heightened insecurity and tightening mood. Some families have already begun to flee ethnically mixed areas in Nairobi and surrounding towns after mysterious leaflets surfaced warning members of certain ethnic groups to leave or else. | |
| In Kenya, it is hard to draw a line between politics and ethnicity. Most people back politicians from their own ethnic group, and political tensions often stir up ethnic ones. Many analysts say that Kenya hasn’t been this ethnically polarized since a disastrous election in 2007 set off riots and clashes that killed more than a thousand people. | |
| “Government, opposition must step back from the brink,” read the lead editorial in the Sunday Nation, one of Kenya’s biggest newspapers. | “Government, opposition must step back from the brink,” read the lead editorial in the Sunday Nation, one of Kenya’s biggest newspapers. |
| Over the past few weeks, Kenya’s opposition leaders have held a number of boisterous rallies across the country, and all of them have been peaceful. But the government is taking no chances about the event on Monday, timed to commemmorate the anniversary of Kenya’s multiparty democracy movement that began in 1990. Thousands of police officers will be deployed throughout Nairobi with orders to keep roads open and trade flowing. Even so, many businesses have advised employees and customers to stay away from downtown Nairobi, fearing that riots could break out. | Over the past few weeks, Kenya’s opposition leaders have held a number of boisterous rallies across the country, and all of them have been peaceful. But the government is taking no chances about the event on Monday, timed to commemmorate the anniversary of Kenya’s multiparty democracy movement that began in 1990. Thousands of police officers will be deployed throughout Nairobi with orders to keep roads open and trade flowing. Even so, many businesses have advised employees and customers to stay away from downtown Nairobi, fearing that riots could break out. |
| At the same time, Kenya’s security forces seem overwhelmed by the spate of killings along the coast that the government says is politically motivated. | At the same time, Kenya’s security forces seem overwhelmed by the spate of killings along the coast that the government says is politically motivated. |
| According to the police inspector general, two villages were attacked around the same time at about 11 p.m. Saturday, with dozens of armed intruders killing civilians, blasting their way into a jail and burning down houses and a church. Residents and officials said that, as with other recent attacks, most of the victims were Kikuyus — the same ethnic group as Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta — and that many had their hands tied behind their backs and had been slaughtered with knives. | |
| Police officers said they found a blackboard placed in a road near the killings that said, “Raila Tosha,” which means Raila’s enough, and “Kick Christians out of coast,” suggesting a domestic source for the violence rather than a foreign one. Those implications, whether true or not, are bound to push the political temperature even higher. | Police officers said they found a blackboard placed in a road near the killings that said, “Raila Tosha,” which means Raila’s enough, and “Kick Christians out of coast,” suggesting a domestic source for the violence rather than a foreign one. Those implications, whether true or not, are bound to push the political temperature even higher. |
| Many Kenyans and security experts alike are confused about who is behind these attacks, which began last month with a full-fledged raid on what had been a sleepy coastal town. At first, many believed the culprits were the Shabab terrorist group from Somalia, which has taken credit for the killings, including the attacks on Saturday night. The Shabab promises to keep wreaking havoc in Kenya as long as the country has troops in Somalia. (Kenya sent troops into Somalia in 2011 to stabilize the country.) | Many Kenyans and security experts alike are confused about who is behind these attacks, which began last month with a full-fledged raid on what had been a sleepy coastal town. At first, many believed the culprits were the Shabab terrorist group from Somalia, which has taken credit for the killings, including the attacks on Saturday night. The Shabab promises to keep wreaking havoc in Kenya as long as the country has troops in Somalia. (Kenya sent troops into Somalia in 2011 to stabilize the country.) |
| But now it is not so clear who the killers are. The coastal areas hit recently are a hive of local grievances over land, ethnicity and economic opportunity. The Kenyan government is in the midst of building a huge, billion-dollar port in the same area, and many business interests are now jostling for a piece of the pie. | But now it is not so clear who the killers are. The coastal areas hit recently are a hive of local grievances over land, ethnicity and economic opportunity. The Kenyan government is in the midst of building a huge, billion-dollar port in the same area, and many business interests are now jostling for a piece of the pie. |
| Last month, Kenya’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, blamed the attacks on “local political networks,” and the governor of the surrounding county was promptly arrested on suspicion of murder. Many people who know the governor say he is innocent, and some analysts have speculated about whether the Shabab and local groups might be cooperating. | |
| The most obvious victim is Kenya’s tourism industry, a pillar of the economy. Western governments, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have issued travel advisories, scaring away tourists by the planeful. The Kenyan coast is usually packed in the summer with kite surfers, fishermen and sunburned European children digging holes in the sand. But now countless hotels have shut down or nearly shut down, laying off legions of cooks, maids, waiters, drivers and many others who support their families with tourism jobs. | The most obvious victim is Kenya’s tourism industry, a pillar of the economy. Western governments, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have issued travel advisories, scaring away tourists by the planeful. The Kenyan coast is usually packed in the summer with kite surfers, fishermen and sunburned European children digging holes in the sand. But now countless hotels have shut down or nearly shut down, laying off legions of cooks, maids, waiters, drivers and many others who support their families with tourism jobs. |
| “It’s so terribly depressingly empty,” a hotel manager said Sunday night. “It’s made me rethink all my plans. You just don’t know now. It may be time to buy some land in Europe.” | “It’s so terribly depressingly empty,” a hotel manager said Sunday night. “It’s made me rethink all my plans. You just don’t know now. It may be time to buy some land in Europe.” |
| Street crime also seems to be getting worse. On Sunday, just hours after the raids on the villages, a Western tourist was killed in a botched robbery while she was visiting an old fort in Mombasa. Kenyan media reported that the tourist was Russian, and that armed men shot her and stole her camera |