Safari Marathon postponed

Security concerns postpone Sarfari Marathon

The Safari Marathon, which was scheduled on 7 September, has been postponed until 2015 for what have been called “security reasons”.

According to information from the organisers: “As safety and security is our main concern we have decided to plan for the event next year.”

Based on the figures from the previous four Safari marathons several thousand participants were expected for the three runs - the half marathon, 10 kms and 5 kms. No further details about “safety” and “security” are available from the organisers.

However in July there were two bombings in Arusha - one at an Indian restaurant in which 10 people were injured and another at the home of a Muslim cleric in which three were injured.

Earlier this year there was a bombing in a safari pub which injured 20 people, one of whom died later.

In 2013 there were several bomb attacks in Arusha, one at the inauguration of a Catholic church by the papal envoy to Tanzania, in which four people were killed and 60 injured.

Since the beginning of August this year there have also been several shootings of lone women in cars by motorcycle gangs.

Arusha is the centre of the Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater safari circuit which attracts large numbers of international tourists. Authorities in Tanzania fear that its tourist attractions could be targeted by extremists in the same way as those in Kenya. However no connection has yet been made between recent bombings in the two countries.

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