MOMBASA, Kenya: Muslim youths fought street battles on Sunday with Kenyan  police outside a mosque where radical clerics regularly preach in the port city  of Mombasa.

The police fired teargas and live rounds over the heads of taunting crowds,  who hurled stones back. It was not immediately clear why the clashes had broken  out.

Many Muslims in Mombasa’s poorer neighbourhoods feel marginalised by the  predominantly Christian Nairobi  government, while a forceful  crackdown on Islamist militant recruitment networks in the tourist hub is  fuelling resentment.

One policeman was found sprawled in a pool of blood in a bathroom inside the  Masjid Mussa mosque, located in the city’s run-down Majengo neighbourhood.

“We found him locked up in a bathroom after we heard him groaning. It appears  like they slaughtered him,” said one armed policeman on the rock-strewn street  outside the mosque.

There was no immediate confirmation from police whether the officer had  survived the attack.

Unknown gunmen have shot dead two firebrand preachers associated with Masjid Mussa mosque  in the past 18 months, both  times sparking riots. Worshippers there accuse the government of operating a  death squad, a charge the government denies

Source: dailystar.com.

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