Tribal gangs clash in Kenyan town, 27 killed

By Tim Cocks

NAKURU, Kenya (Reuters) - Kenyan police battled on Saturday to stop clashes between tribal gangs wielding machetes, spears and bows and arrows that have killed at least 27 people in the western town of Nakuru in three days of bloodshed.

Burnt bodies piled up and gunshots rang out in the Rift Valley provincial capital, which had previously been spared the chaos that has killed some 700 people across Kenya since the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki Dec. 27 polls.

What began as a political stand-off has evolved into a settling of scores between rival tribes in the east African nation, once one of the continent's most promising economies, whose peaceful image has been shattered by the bloodshed.

"There is nothing we can do. All those who are fanning the violence are staying comfortably in their luxury homes while we burn," said Nakuru resident Urunga Maina, who rushed his nephew to hospital after he was hacked by a machete-wielding mob.

"We are being used as sacrificial lambs," Maina told Reuters. "What matters is that the politicians take what they want. They don't care about the wananchi (ordinary people)."

The fighting has prompted the first army deployment since Kenya's crisis erupted and undermined hopes of a solution after Kibaki met his rival Raila Odinga on Thursday in their first talks since the troubles began. Odinga says the vote was rigged.

The latest clashes pitted members of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe against Luos and Kalenjins who backed Odinga -- and looked to have largely caught the security forces in Nakuru unawares.

"It may have been triggered by the electoral result, but it has evolved into something else where there is gross and systematic abuse of the rights of citizens," said former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is leading a mediation team.