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Gunfire rang out Saturday in Kenya's Rift Valley city of Nakuru, which has fallen prey to ethnic clashes triggered by post-election violence that has left nearly 700 people dead.


A Police officer reacts after unloading
charred bodies at the mortuary in Nakuru,
26 Jan 2008

A Police officer reacts after unloading charred bodies at the mortuary in Nakuru, 26 Jan 2008
The death toll from two days of fighting in the western town now stands at 25. Authorities unloaded the badly burned bodies of 16 people at Nakuru's mortuary earlier Saturday.

Many residents sought shelter in churches after fighting Thursday and Friday among youths armed with clubs, machetes, and bows and arrows. Police say it is difficult to say how many were injured. Many homes were burned.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan Saturday visited the Rift Valley town of Molo, where tens of thousands of people have been displaced because of the fighting.


Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, right,
and former U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan meet in Nairobi,
Thursday, 24 Jan. 2008

Mr. Annan mediated the first direct talks Thursday between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga since disputed December elections.

Both sides later accused the other of trying to undermine the mediation effort.

Mr. Odinga has accused Mr. Kibaki of rigging his re-election.

The violence has pitted members of the president's Kikuyu tribe against other groups, including Luo and Kalenjin, who support Mr. Odinga.

Two top Kenyan human rights activists have appealed to the U.N. Security Council to do something about the violence, which has also displaced about 255,000 people.

The United Nations Children's Fund reported Friday that sexual violence against women and children in Kenya has increased during the post-election unrest.

The agency says much of the violence has occurred in make-shift camps housing people displaced by the unrest.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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