Five killed in Kenyan slum violence - police
Source: Reuters
(Updates with colour, residents flee) NAIROBI, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Five people were killed in a Kenyan slum after fighting broke out between two outlawed groups over extortion, police said on Tuesday, adding that two of them were killed by police who tried to quell the violence. "Officially, we know that three people were killed last night," police spokesman Gideon Kibunjah told Reuters. "We suspect they were slashed with crude weapons, but police intercepted a gang suspected to be one of the groups and shot dead two of them," he added. Kibunjah said the violence in Nairobi's sprawling Mathare slum was by the rival Mungiki and Taliban groups over protection money levied by one of them on brewers of an illegal drink. "We have heard that some of the brewers protested against paying Mungiki to be able to sell their brew and therefore hired the Taliban to protect them. It is these two vigilantes fighting," Kibunjah said. The violence began over the weekend. Television footage showed hundreds of residents fleeing the slums with their property to camp at a nearby airforce base, while gangs of youth torched vehicles and shouted "Kill, Kill". "I cannot go back there, they will kill me," Leonila Okwaro told the Kenya Television Network, as city administrators asked residents to remain in their houses after dark. Mungiki is a banned sect whose name means "multitude" in the Kikuyu language of Kenya's biggest ethnic group. In February, police arrested the head of the notorious group over killings and running extortion rackets among transport operators. Slum dwellers say it instils fear and respect by promoting archaic spiritual rituals like swearing tribal oaths. (Additional reporting by David Mageria in Nairobi)
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