AFRICA/KENYA - More than 30 people killed in violent clashes between the police and members of the Mungiki sect

Friday, 8 June 2007

Nairobi (Agenzia Fides) - Some 37 people are reported to have been killed and 300 arrested in a police operation against the Mungiki sect in Mathare slum district of Nariobi, capital of Kenya. The Mungiki (Multitude) sect is held responsible for the killing of twenty people in the past 3 months. The bodies of twelve of the victims were found decapitated and horribly mutilated.
The operation was launched during the night of June 4 following the killing of 2 policemen; whom the authorities suspect were killed by members of the sect. More than 500 policemen surrounded the slum and started a house to house search during which weapons were confiscated included the rifles of the two murdered policemen. When members of the sect tried to stop the police from entering the slum, the security forces engaged in a shoot out. In the fighting 37 members of the sect were killed.
Many of the people who live at Mathare have fled their homes for fear of being injured or killed in fighting between the police and the criminal gangs.
Mungiki is not only a criminal gang it is a sect which promotes “traditional African values”. Formed in the 1980s the Mungiki was outlawed by the local authorities for extortion and violence. In 2003 when Mungiki members killed 23 people in another slum in the capital, the local Catholic Church warned that the sect was a risk to public order and safety. Some observers say the sect draws inspiration from the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s against British colonial power, and it is most active in degraded parts of the capital and central Kenya. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 8/6/2007 righe 26 parole 326)


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