Three killed in clash outside UN refugee camp

Police have opened fire on protesters outside a UN refugee camp in northern Kenya, killing three people.

The protesters were blocking the road to the Kakuma refugee camp to demand higher prices for the firewood they sell to the UN refugee agency.

Two men and a woman were killed and two others wounded, say witnesses.

Acting District Commissioner Saspelu Nelson Marwa said he knew of only one person killed in the clash, but declined to provide any other details.

The clash is the latest of recent Kenyan protests over the tens of thousands of refugees from Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia that live in northern Kenya.

Residents have asked the government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to close the camps or to at least provide more employment.

UN officials were not available for comment.