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Tribal panga attacks flare up in Kenya

NAIROBI - Clashes among rival tribes in the Kenyan capital killed at least three people yesterday in a fresh flare-up of ethnically-motivated violence after President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election last month, witnesses said.

NAIROBI - Clashes among rival tribes in the Kenyan capital killed at least three people yesterday in a fresh flare-up of ethnically-motivated violence after President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election last month, witnesses said.

All of the bodies bore scars of machete attacks.

"I saw three people dead, killed by pangas, slashed on the head, cuts on the back and a hand chopped off," said Samuel Oduor, a freelance cameraman.

He had the footage of one of the bodies but police had collected the others, he said.

Other witnesses confirmed the death toll in clashes between youths from Kibaki's Kikuyu ethnic group and the Luo tribe of opposition challenger Raila Odinga. At least 31 people have died from days of violence since the opposition launched a three-day anti-government demonstration on Wednesday.

Many people were killed by police opening fire on protesters, others by ethnic gangs.

Police were heavily deployed yesterday in an effort to contain further post-poll violence that has tarnished Kenya's image as a stable country in a troubled region, hurt its democratic credentials and damaged investor confidence. - Reuters

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