Two people were killed in central Kenya on Monday during a protest against moves by the United States to set up an Ebola quarantine facility at a military base there, protest organiser Patrick Wahome and a security source told Reuters.
The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear.
Kenya's national police spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kenyan President William Ruto defended a planned US-backed Ebola quarantine facility at a military air base in central Kenya, saying it was part of a wider national preparedness plan and a long-running health partnership with Washington.
Last week, Kenya approved a US request to establish a facility at a military air base in central Kenya for Americans who may have been exposed to Ebola.
Massive protests
Residents and local leaders in Nanyuki, near the base, held a protest on Monday against the planned facility, saying they feared it could expose the community to Ebola and questioning why Kenya should host a quarantine centre for US citizens.
The protest followed growing public criticism of the arrangement and legal action seeking to halt the project.
Speaking for the first time about the facility, Ruto said it was not unusual and was similar to others already established in Kenya.
"The facility that is at Laikipia Air Base is not a facility different from all the other facilities that we have across Kenya," Ruto told reporters in northern Kenya late on Monday, urging Kenyans not to doubt the government's preparedness.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda are battling the rare Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in an outbreak that has so far killed 48 people and been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO.
The outbreak is outpacing the global response, which got off to a late start.
Court orders temporary suspension
Ruto said he approved the facility after US President Donald Trump asked Kenya to support it, citing decades of cooperation with Washington on health programmes including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and COVID-19.
The president said Kenya had prepared isolation, surveillance and treatment facilities in 23 counties, adding the facility would serve Kenyans as well as foreign partners, including Americans, if needed.
Ruto dismissed criticism of the plan, saying Kenya had a duty to prepare for any potential Ebola cases, including among Kenyans living or serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A court last week temporarily suspended the plan after a lawsuit argued the site could endanger public health. Ruto did not acknowledge the existence of the court order.
