Kenya: 12 suspected criminals killed at the weekend

(SomaliNet) As a fierce crackdown on surging crime intensified across Kenya, twelve suspected criminals and members of a murderous sect were killed in Kenya over the weekend, police said on Sunday.

Provincial chief criminal investigator Sebastian Ndaru said seven men believed to be linked to the Mungiki criminal gang were Sunday gunned down in central Kenya\'s Kangema area when they were caught taking illegal oaths, including drinking blood.

He said the Kenyan police, tipped off that dozens of the gang\'s members had gathered in a compound, sealed off the area, but were met with gunfire from the suspects as they attempted to flee.

\"But police were very swift and they managed to kill seven, arrested eight and others escaped into a nearby valley but we are pursuing them,\" Ndaru said.

\"They were drinking blood - which is part of oath-taking - and therefore they were members of Mungiki,\" Ndaru explained.

The incident occurred in the home region of National Security Minister John Michuki, who has been under pressure to resign for failing to crack down on the politically-linked sect that in the past courted the government officials and politicians.

Meanwhile, police gunned down five armed robbers in Nairobi slums overnight Saturday, that are under the sway of the Mungiki gang, said police commander Benard Omollo, as security forces intensified patrols in the capital\'s crime-prone shantytowns.

Omollo said police recovered two AK 47 rifles, 115 rounds of ammunition, fake licence plates and two stolen vehicles. It was not immediately clear whether the five were linked to the Mungiki gang, which is primarily composed of members of Kenya\'s largest tribe, the Kikuyu.

\"Police have declared a war on (criminals) and we are going to deal with them accordingly,\" Omollo said.

Police launched a crackdown last month after several headless bodies were recovered in Nairobi slums and other Mungiki bastions in central Kenya.

Thousands suspected sect members - said to have its origins in the Mau Mau uprising of the 1950s against former colonial powers - have been apprehended in the central and Nairobi provinces since the start of the year, according to official sources.

The group, banned in 2002, has been blamed for at least 40 murders since March, including 12 beheadings. Police say they have killed at least 56 Mungiki members in the same period.- Sapa-AFP