Kenya's coastal killings pose insurgency risk for Kenyatta

Riot policemen clear a road barricade erected in support with the rally by Kenya's opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD), to demand dialogue with the government in the western city of Kisumu July 7, 2014. REUTERS/Moses Eshiwani

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya may face a full-blown insurgency on its coast unless President Uhuru Kenyatta can douse a combustible mix of ethnic rivalries, land rows and Islamist militancy.

Gunmen have killed about 100 people since mid-June, exposing festering problems that could test Kenyatta's ability to reassure a nation fretting about wider security a little more than a year into his first term. Despite dozens of arrests, the government has yet to identify the culprits.