Kenyan armed forces are preventing aid workers from helping homeless, hungry families caught between a brutal militia and an army crackdown, an aid agency said on Monday.
David Michalski, who coordinates operations for Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) in Kenya, said thousands of people have no medical care after soldiers began refusing to let MSF workers through roadblocks into the western Mt Elgon area three weeks ago.
The army intervened in the region in March to stop a reign of terror by a militia that murdered and mutilated its opponents in a fight between two ethnic groups over land.
Several human rights groups have accused the army of torturing thousands of people since operations began in March, charges they deny.
Michalski said on Monday that MSF is still receiving reports of attacks but its staff are confined to a narrow area around their base.
Displaced people said armed forest police torched an MSF clinic, shelters and food nine days ago in Chebongweny.
The clinic had been treating up to 300 people per week and sheltering some families who had fled the violence. Michalski said local people also told him the police stole or destroyed blankets and clothes.
”A lot of these children are in rags and it gets below freezing on the mountain at night,” he said. Health workers had been unable to reach the area to confirm reports that one child had already died of hypothermia.
Michalski said his organisation had not been given any reason for the sudden denial of access.
A government spokesperson did not return calls seeking comment.
The Mt Elgon conflict began years before post-election clashes that claimed more than 1 000 lives earlier this year. But activists say in both cases the violence was fanned by politicians who exploit ethnic grievances over land. — Sapa-AP