A protest in Nairobi against the construction of a US-funded Ebola research facility turned violent this morning. At least three demonstrators are dead, according to local medics. The facility, run by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has been a flashpoint for conspiracy theories in Kenya.
Critics claim it is a bioweapons lab. The government insists it is for disease surveillance. The UK's Department for International Development has placed aid teams in the region on standby.
Whitehall sources tell me the Foreign Office is monitoring the situation closely. No British nationals have been reported harmed. But the optics are grim.
A riot over a disease lab while the world is still reeling from a pandemic. Expect urgent questions in the Commons later this week. Labour will want to know what intelligence the UK had on the ground.
The truth? Very little. Western agencies have been blindsided by the intensity of local opposition.
This is a warning shot. If the protests spread, it could destabilise a key ally in the fight against disease in Africa.
