3 More Kenyans Reported Slain in Ongoing Violence

MOMBASA, Kenya — Youths armed with spears and machetes attacked a village on the Indian Ocean coast north of this Kenyan port Saturday, reportedly killing three people only days after a similar attack on a nearby police station.

It was not immediately known whether the attack on Mtwapa had anything to do with Wednesday’s attack on the Likoni police station, south of Mombasa. That attack killed at least 15 people, including seven police officers.

Dozens of people have been rounded up in connection with the ongoing violence, but the motives and identities of the attackers remain unknown.

News reports from the area Saturday said about 40 armed youths set fire to two houses in Mtwapa, including a holiday villa where several foreign tourists were staying.

The reports said that the tourists, whose nationalities were not immediately known, escaped unharmed but that three locals who were beaten by the gang died. It was not immediately possible to confirm the deaths with local authorities.

The violence is the latest blow to the government of President Daniel Arap Moi. His regime has come under increasing pressure since May from an opposition-backed alliance demanding democratic reform of the British colonial constitution before a general election expected later this year.