Kenyan cops hunt criminal gang

2008-04-17 08:22

Nairobi - Police on Wednesday carried out door-to-door searches in the Kenyan capital and central region for members of a criminal gang whose clashes with authorities this week caused 19 deaths, officials said.

Hundreds of riot police descended on Nairobi's eastland slums and central Kenyan districts, home to the Mungiki sect, that rioted nationwide this week over the killing of its jailed leader's wife.

The gang blamed police for the killing, which took place last week.

"The crackdown is going on ... It is massive because we are determined to bring these (Mungiki) activities to an end," said police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe.

At least 19 were killed on Monday and Tuesday after police battled rioting Mungiki members in a crisis that presented Kenya's new coalition cabinet with its first major challenge.

52 Mungiki members arrested

Police said they had beefed up operations in a bid to stamp out the Mungiki, an outlawed organisation that drew its numbers mainly from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe.

"We have intensified our security and we want to ensure that this criminal gang does not compromise public security," Kiraithe added.

On Tuesday, police arrested at least 52 Mungiki members, many armed with machetes, after they lit bonfires on the streets and threatened to kill people and burn their vehicles, bringing the number of those detained to at least 150.

Appearing on television this week, a spokesperson for the Mungiki warned the violence would not let up until the deaths of the gang leader's wife and her driver were explained.

The Mungiki had been linked with key officials from the president's political camp and blamed in several rights reports for some of the ethnic violence that rocked the country after disputed December elections.

Since March last year, dozens of people had been killed by the Mungiki, several of them beheaded. Police responded with a crackdown in which they killed scores of gang members.

- SAPA