Police in Kilifi are holding a group of mourners arrested during a raid at a funeral gathering on Saturday.

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The officers from Kilifi Police Station were reportedly reacting after police officers were attacked and injured at the venue the previous night.

The swoop at Mwambani Village in Ngerenya location saw the police arrest a pastor, six women and two children.

The children were however later released with the remaining group set to be presented in court to face charges of assaulting police officers, according to OCPD Njoroge Ngigi.

“I cannot say who was at the funeral vigil that night and who was not, all of them will be taken to court for assaulting police officers,” said the police boss, reports the Standard.

However, the Friday night incident was faulted by the outgoing Kilifi County Commander Fred Ochieng who said that the clash between the mourners and police was expected.

"Chiefs and their assistants are supposed to inform the police early enough. We do not want to raid homesteads when the discos are on because it will lead to a confrontation,” he said.

The police claim that seven of them were injured in the Friday incident, with residents claiming that the arrested were the elderly and school going children who could not escape from the police.