Five people were shot dead as dozens were wounded in Kenya on Tuesday in mounting anti-tax hike protests, NGOs said, after police clashed with demonstrators who stormed the parliament compound in Nairobi.
According to report, the military has been deployed to support police, who earlier fired tear gas, water cannon, rubber bullets and according to a human 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,” several NGOs, including Amnesty Kenya, said a joint statement that reported the dead and wounded.
The White House appealed for calm and more than 10 Western nations , including Canada, Germany and Britain said they were “especially shocked by the scenes witnessed outside the Kenyan Parliament”.
However, youth-led rallies have complained over proposed tax hikes and simmering anger over a cost-of-living crisis to fuel rapidly growing demonstrations.