MOMBASA, Kenya, July 21 (UPI) -- Four people were shot and killed in Mombasa, Kenya, in retribution for a raid last month that killed about 50 people.
The shootings Sunday in Kenya's second-largest city, witnesses said, were random. Two armed men shot indiscriminately at passersby, then escaped after tossing leaflets which explained the attack was revenge for the incident in June in Mpeketoni, a town about 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of the port city of Mombasa.
"I saw two men dressed in black with a red ribbon around their heads. They walked on foot and were just shooting carelessly at anyone they saw," said Peter Musyoki, a witness.
Although al-Shabaab militants from neighboring Somalia have claimed responsibility for recent violence in Kenya, notably in the capital city of Nairobi, the Kenyan government has suggested an internal political feud was the cause of the Mpeketoni massacre. Raila Odinga, who lost to President Uhuru Kenyatta in last year's presidential election, is accused of sparking the Mpeketoni violence with anti-government rallies.
"Four people have been killed and several others injured. They did not steal anything. They just shot," said Robert Kitur, Mobmasa County police commander, of the Mombasa shootings.
