Kenya Opposition: We Need Help

3 Feb 2008 CNN

African Union Peacekeepers

Two days after reaching a plan with the Kenyan government to end violence that has wracked the country for more than a month, the opposition party asked both the United Nations and the African Union to send in peacekeepers. "The level of violence in Kenya is on a terrifying scale and it has not really diminished," said Salim Lone, spokesman for the Orange Democratic Movement. "The security forces seem incapable of stopping this carnage, and in some cases, they actually stand by while the killing goes on," Lone said. The killing continued over the weekend, as machete-wielding tribal gangs roamed the western part of the country, torching homes and hunting each other down. At least 863 people have died and another 261,000 driven from their homes, the Kenyan Red Cross said.