Kenya’s president shifted blame to domestic rivals yesterday for two attacks that killed 65 people on the coast and he dismissed claims of responsibility by Somali Islamist militants, which Nairobi usually fingers for such assaults.

Somalia’s al Shabaab militant group has said its gunmen carried out the attacks on the town of Mpeketoni on Sunday night and on a nearby village early yesterday morning.

In comments that could further stoke political tensions in a country where allegiances generally run along ethnic lines, President Uhuru Kenyatta instead pointed the finger at rivals he described as “hate-mongers”, though he did not name anybody.

“The attack in Lamu was well planned, orchestrated and politically motivated ethnic violence against the Kenyan community,” Kenyatta told the nation in an address, referring to Lamu county where the two attacks took place.

“This, therefore, was not an al Shabaab terrorist attack. Evidence indicates local political networks were involved in the planning and execution of the heinous crime. This also played into the opportunist network of other criminal gangs,” he said.

Blaming domestic rivals could ease pressure on Kenyatta’s government, which has faced strong criticism about its handling of security and the threat from Somali-linked militants.

Analysts said politicising the issue of security by either side risked undermining efforts to tackle shortcomings.

We live at a time when our people are vulnerable to reckless leaders

“We live at a time when our people are vulnerable to reckless leaders and hate-mongers who manipulate them to create hate, intolerance and fanaticism, which makes them easy prey to radicalisation and crime,” Kenyatta said in his address.

Though Kenyatta, an ethnic Kikuyu, did not mention him, his comments appeared directed at his opponent and main presidential challenger in last year’s election, Raila Odinga, an ethnic Luo, who returned to Kenya in May after a long period abroad.

Odinga has been rallying supporters and has urged dialogue with the government. He has condemned the latest assaults.

In Sunday’s attack, gunmen stormed Mpeketoni, which lies near the popular tourist attraction of Lamu town, and killed 49 people. Then 24 hours later, gunmen raided nearby Poromoko village, going through the town from house to house and ordering residents to recite an Islamic creed, witnesses said.

Kenya has blamed al Shabaab for a spate of gun and bomb attacks in recent months. Kenya also holds al Shabaab responsible for an attack on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall in September last year in which 67 people were killed.

Al Shabaab has said its attacks are intended to punish Kenya for sending troops to Somalia to confront its Islamist fighters. Kenya has previously said it would keep its troops in Somalia. Witnesses in Mpeketoni said they heard the gunmen speak Somali, although that does not automatically link them to al Shabaab.