Five people were shot dead and dozens wounded in Kenya on Tuesday in mounting anti-tax hike protests, NGOs said, as police clashed with demonstrators who stormed the parliament compound in Nairobi.
Police fired tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and, according to a rights group, live ammunition against protesters, as tensions sharply escalated in protests that have caught the government off guard.
"Despite the assurance by the government that the right to assembly would be protected and facilitated, today's protests have spiraled into violence," said a joint statement from several NGOS, including Amnesty Kenya, which reported the dead and wounded.
Errata: We would like to correct a typo in our previous statement. Five people have indeed died from gunshot wounds but they did not "while treating the injured." We apologize for this typo. https://t.co/YlfftncvkE-- Amnesty Kenya (@AmnestyKenya) June 25, 2024
The White House appealed for calm and more than 10 Western nations to voiced their deep concern over the violence.
The rallies have galvanised outrage over proposed tax hikes and simmering anger over a cost-of-living crisis.
"This is the voice of the young people of Kenya," said Elizabeth Nyaberi, 26, a lawyer at a protest. "Although they are tear gassing us, but we don't care."
"We are here to speak for our generations and the generations to come," she added.
The protests had been largely peaceful so far but chaos erupted in the capital Tuesday, with crowds throwing stones at police, pushing past barricades and ultimately entering the grounds of Kenya's parliament.
Amid the clashes, global web monitor NetBlocks reported that a "major disruption" had hit the country's internet service.
In the aftermath of parliament's breach, local TV showed images of ransacked rooms with smashed windows, while cars parked outside were vandalised and flags destroyed.
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The governor's office in Nairobi City Hall - just a few hundred metres from parliament - was set alight, footage on privately owned Citizen TV showed, with a water canon attempting to douse the fire.
After reports that live ammunition was fired at protesters, Kenya's main opposition coalition, Azimio, said the government had "unleashed brute force on our country's children".
"Kenya cannot afford to kill its children just because the children are asking for food, jobs and a listening ear," it said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, despite the heavy police presence, thousands of protesters had marched peacefully through Nairobi's business district, pushing back against barricades as they headed towards parliament.
As protesters gained ground in their push towards parliament, many were livestreaming the action as they sang and beat drums.
Crowds also marched in the port city of Mombasa, the opposition bastion of Kisumu, and Kenyan President William Ruto's stronghold of Eldoret, images on Kenyan TV channels showed.
(with newswires)
