Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Tension is high in Kenya's northern town of Garissa on Tuesday following the killing of Al- Shabaab suspect by police on Monday night.
The man was said to be in accompany of others who were in a salon car when he allegedly wanted to open fire on police officers before he was shot dead instantly.
Garissa County Commissioner Mohammed Maalim confirmed the incident, saying there were contradicting reports surrounding the death of the man who was shot deadly in a local bank.
"Police officers say the man wanted to shoot on them while in the car. Another group says that the man was running away from police arrest at the time of his shooting. This is subject to investigation before I can give any detailed report," Maalim told Xinhua in Garissa on Tuesday.
The incident sparked violent demonstrations in Garissa town and its environs as angry residents who took to the streets accused the police of innocent killings.
However, Maalim who was forced to summon a security meeting between the police and the locals appealed for calm, saying that the investigations have been launched and vowed to unearth the truth behind the killing.
The Kenyan government has publicly attributed the attacks to Al- Shabaab, which declared last year that it had joined the al Qaida network.
Kenyan security forces have repeatedly accused local residents in the restive region of either harbouring members of Al-Shabaab or participating in the attacks, and have repeatedly carried out several operations against local residents.
Both districts in northern Kenya have been the site of increasing grenade and gun attacks targeting both the Kenyan security forces and civilians since October 2011, when Kenyan military entered Somalia in pursuit of the militant Somali armed group, Al-Shabaab.