The death toll from protests in Kenya has risen to 13, an official from the main doctors’ association told AFP on Wednesday.
News About Nigeria gathered that this follows violent clashes during anti-tax hike protests, where police fired live rounds at demonstrators who ransacked the parliament.
The protests, which left parts of the parliament ablaze and scores injured, have prompted President William Ruto’s government to deploy the military.
The rallies, largely youth-led, began mostly peacefully last week, with thousands of demonstrators marching in the capital, Nairobi, and across the country to protest against the tax increases.
However, tensions escalated sharply on Tuesday afternoon as police officers opened fire on the crowds, leading to the ransacking of the parliament complex.
Hours later, Defence Minister Aden Bare Duale announced the deployment of the army to support the police in addressing the “security emergency” in the country.
“So far, we have at least 13 people killed, but this is not the final number,” Simon Kigondu, president of the Kenya Medical Association, said. He added that he had never seen “such a level of violence against unarmed people.”
An official at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi said Wednesday that medics were treating “160 people… some of them with soft tissue injuries, some of them with bullet wounds.”
In a late-night press briefing, President Ruto warned that his government would take a tough line against “violence and anarchy,” likening some of the demonstrators to “criminals.”
“It is not in order or even conceivable that criminals pretending to be peaceful protesters can reign terror against the people, their elected representatives, and the institutions established under our constitution and expect to go scot-free,” Ruto said.
