Mombasa - A trickle of residents yesterday fled a suburb south of Kenya's Indian Ocean city of Mombasa. The city was largely deserted after an exodus of people who said they feared a police crackdown.
Commerce in Likoni suburb ground to a halt after the threeday exodus. Residents estimated less than 10,000 people remained of a population of around 60,000 before the start on August 13th of a series of ethnic attacks by well-organised gangs.
Only a few dozen residents pushing handcarts loaded with possessions were seen yesterday using the ferry which connects Mombasa island and Likoni on the mainland, compared with thousands on previous days. Residents said they feared being caught up in searches by paramilitary General Service Unit forces looking for weapons stolen during raid on Likoni police station on August 13th.