At least four people were killed as Muslims rioted and set fire to a Christian community centre in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, after a radical imam with alleged links to al-Shabaab was shot dead the night before.

Police fired tear gas and live rounds as they tried to break up gangs of dozens of young men armed with sticks and throwing stones who roamed parts of the city centre after Friday prayers.

^{Firefighters dowse the flames at the Mombasa Salvation Army building (AP)}

The Foreign Office warned British visitors to “avoid large public demonstrations and crowded areas” following the riots. Shops were shuttered by early afternoon as traffic sped out of the city.

It was the first significant outbreak of violence in Kenya since al-Shabaab terrorists took control of Nairobi‘s Westgate Shopping Mall a fortnight ago.

Muslim leaders at the mosque where the dead cleric preached had earlier denied that they helped assemble the team that attacked the mall.

Tourists at beach resorts north of Mombasa lay in the sun apparently unaware of the running battles taking place between police and protestors just a few miles away.

The Salvation Army Worship Centre, a Christian social hall, was partially destroyed in a fire started by the Muslim gangs, who had flooded out of the nearby Musa Mosque at 1pm

Read More:  Christian centre set on fire after al-Shabaab-linked cleric killed in Mombasa – Telegraph

Categories: Christian persecution, islamists, news, Religion of Peace

Tags: al-Shabaab, christian persecution, Jumu'ah, kenya, Mombasa, muslim, Nairobi, Salvation Army