The Lari massacre was an incident during the

Mau Mau Uprising The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt, or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the Mau Mau, and the ...

in which the Mau Mau massacred approximately 74 people, including some members of the loyalist

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

, but mostly their families: women, children and elderly relatives. Those murdered included prominent local loyalist Luka Kahangara. A total of 309 rebels were prosecuted for the massacre, of whom 136 were convicted. Seventy-one of those convicted were executed by hanging. The militants herded men, women and children into huts and set fire to them, hacking down with machetes anyone who attempted escape, before throwing them back into the burning huts. The attack at Lari was so extreme that "African policemen who saw the bodies of the victims ... were physically sick and said 'These people are animals. If I see one now I shall shoot with the greatest eagerness'", and it "even shocked many Mau Mau supporters, some of whom would subsequently try to excuse the attack as 'a mistake'.". The colonial government used the attack as propaganda and showed the massacre to journalists. The massacre prompted retaliatory attacks."The Night Of Long Knives: Slain Colonial Chief's Widows Recall Lari Massacre"
by Njenga Gicheha ''The Star'', March 25, 2011, accessed 9 November 2013 400 Mau Mau rebels were reputedly killed by colonial troops, including the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

, in revenge.

References

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External links

Lari Massacre Trial
at British Pathe 1953 murders in Kenya 20th-century mass murder in Kenya Kiambu County Massacres in 1953 Massacres in Kenya Mau Mau rebellion March 1953 in Africa {{Massacre-stub War crimes trials Mass stabbings in Kenya Knife attacks in Kenya Arson deaths Arson in Kenya 1953 fires Building and structure fires in Africa Attacks on buildings and structures in Kenya Attacks on buildings and structures in the 1950s Terrorist incidents in Kenya Terrorist incidents in Africa in 1953 Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks in Africa Arson in the 1950s