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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Deadly shoot-out with Kenyan sect | Deadly shoot-out with Kenyan sect |
| (19 minutes later) | |
| Police in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have shot and killed 21 people in a gun battle with suspected members of the banned Mungiki sect. | Police in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have shot and killed 21 people in a gun battle with suspected members of the banned Mungiki sect. |
| Police say their officers engaged "a gang of thugs" resisting an operation to recover firearms stolen from three policemen who were killed on Monday. | Police say their officers engaged "a gang of thugs" resisting an operation to recover firearms stolen from three policemen who were killed on Monday. |
| Several weapons are said to have been recovered and some policemen injured. | Several weapons are said to have been recovered and some policemen injured. |
| Last week, the president warned Mungiki activities would no longer be tolerated and ordered a shoot-to-kill policy. | Last week, the president warned Mungiki activities would no longer be tolerated and ordered a shoot-to-kill policy. |
| The security forces in Kenya have spent the past three months trying to crack down on criminal elements in the Mungiki - a sect which it is claimed runs an extensive extortion operation and is reported to have connections high up in Kenya politics. | |
| 'Resistance' | |
| Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the morning shoot-out took place in the Mathare district of Nairobi - a run-down industrial sector. | Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the morning shoot-out took place in the Mathare district of Nairobi - a run-down industrial sector. |
| There is no-one who has the right to take a life and if you choose to do that and try to hide we will get you President Mwai Kibaki Kenya's secretive sect | |
| He said police have cordoned off a large area of the slum reputed to host criminal gangs in the city. | He said police have cordoned off a large area of the slum reputed to host criminal gangs in the city. |
| "Security officers during the operation met with resistance from a crowd of armed people who fired at the officers leading to the shoot-out and most of them were killed," Mr Kiraithe told the BBC News website. | "Security officers during the operation met with resistance from a crowd of armed people who fired at the officers leading to the shoot-out and most of them were killed," Mr Kiraithe told the BBC News website. |
| Three pistols, machetes and other crude weapons were recovered from the slain suspects and from several houses that were ransacked by the police's feared paramilitary wing, he said. | Three pistols, machetes and other crude weapons were recovered from the slain suspects and from several houses that were ransacked by the police's feared paramilitary wing, he said. |
| On Monday night, three police officers were killed while on patrol on foot in the Mathare slums. They were robbed of their AK-47 rifles. | On Monday night, three police officers were killed while on patrol on foot in the Mathare slums. They were robbed of their AK-47 rifles. |
| The Mungiki are thought to be militants from Kenya's biggest ethnic group, the Kikuyu. | |
| Last week, President Mwai Kibaki reacted angrily to a spate of grisly murders and beheadings blamed on the banned Mungiki sect. | |
| "There is no-one who has the right to take a life and if you choose to do that and try to hide we will get you," he said. | |
| Some commentators have linked them to politicians wanting to cause unrest and fear ahead of December elections. | |
| The Mungiki, which means multitude in Kikuyu, claim to have more than one million followers across the country. | |
| The sect promotes female circumcision and oath taking and was outlawed in 2002. | |
| In recent years they have been battling with public transport operators who refuse to pay them protection fees. |