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14 killed in violent gang protests in Kenya
Fourteen people were killed after Kenyan police fired bullets and tear gas to clear machete-waving gang members who blocked roads and set a police post on fire on Monday, to protest the killing of an imprisoned gang leader's wife.
- AP
- Published: 14:56 April 14, 2008
Nairobi: Fourteen people were killed after Kenyan police fired bullets and tear gas to clear machete-waving gang members who blocked roads and set a police post on fire on Monday, to protest the killing of an imprisoned gang leader's wife.
Earlier in the day, the gang blocked the main east-west road running through the country but it was quickly cleared, police officer Willy Lugusa said.
Police and gang members fought running battles in Naivasha, a town northwest of the capital along the road.
In the western town of Eldoret, senior police officer Muinde Kioko said that two Mungiki supporters had been badly beaten by members of the public and 16 had been arrested.
Within the capital, gang members manned roadblocks of burning tires and pulled people out of vehicles. Local resident Cliff Owino said vehicles in the slum of Mathare were being stoned and gunshots were heard.
Several burned-out, smoldering cars were blocking roads and about a dozen riot police with shields and masks were patrolling a main roundabout littered with broken glass and the blackened shell of a minibus.
In another part of the city, around 200 members of the Mungiki gang armed with machetes and sticks blocked off a road and marched with a banner demanding the release of their leader from prison. Police fired tear gas at them but failed to disperse them.
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