Several Kenyan police officers, deployed to keep the peace in a tense presidential election following hundreds of deaths after a 2007 vote, were hacked to death by unidentified attackers before polling stations opened on Monday.
Several of the attackers were also shot dead by police.
Julius Marwa, district commissioner in the area of Mombasa, said the police officers were killed in the region of Changamwe, a few kilometres outside the port city.
Amdrose Munyasia, chief of police intelligence in the Coast area, confirmed there had been two deaths but gave no more details.
Several polling stations in Kilifi in the coastal city were attacked. The attackers were unknown but members of the separatist group, the Mombasa Republican Council are suspected after issuing threats to disrupt the elections.
While there is tension following the violence, voting continues in Mombasa.
