Man shot dead by police outside US embassy

A man was shot and killed by Kenyan police outside the US embassy in the capital Nairobi on Thursday, police said.

"The man was shot dead after a confrontation with officers guarding the embassy," a police source told AFP on condition of anonymity, without specifying the cause of the confrontation.

A photograph shared on social media showed the body of a man of apparently Somali origin lying on the pavement, a pool of blood staining the tarmac by his head and surrounded by police officers.

The well-guarded US embassy in Nairobi is located opposite the main UN complex in Gigiri, an upmarket suburb in the city's north popular with expatriates.