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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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Ethnic Gangs Rile Kenyan Slums

Gang with reputed vampire tendencies at center of ugly violence

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(Newser) – The ethnic violence that has ripped through Kenya since December's disputed election is particularly gruesome between gangs in the slums of Nairobi, Newsweek reports. On one side is the self-proclaimed “Taliban,” a group dedicated to protecting their Luo tribe, and imposing order and justice much like their Afghan namesake. Their enemies are the Mungiki, a Kikuyu gang rumored to drink blood during ritualized killings.

The Mungiki have long been a problem in Kenya, and though rumor has its members throughout the police and government, President Mwai Kibaki, himself a Kikuyu, seemed to be fighting them. Now they protect the Kikuyu and the poor—in brutal fashion. “If you are Luo, they chop you,” said one "Taliban" member. “So what do you think we do?”

Suspects are ordered to carry a body of a person killed during fighting between police and the Mungiki sect , Thursday, June 7, 2007 in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Gunbattles erupted in a Nairobi slum Thursday, killing at least 10 people, as police conducted house-to-house searches for members of...
Suspects are ordered to carry a body of a person killed during fighting between police and the Mungiki sect , Thursday, June 7, 2007 in the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Gunbattles erupted in a Nairobi...   (Associated Press)
Kenyans fight over food aid handed outby ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 in the Kibera slum, Nairobi. Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki has named half his Cabinet, angering opposition leaders who accuse him of stealing an election and now undermining attempts to mediate a power-sharing...
Kenyans fight over food aid handed outby ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 in the Kibera slum, Nairobi. Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki has named half his Cabinet,...   (Associated Press)
A woman and children wait for armed escort inside a bus to the capital Nairobi, in Kisumu, western Kenya, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. More refugees streamed from western Kenya as fresh violence followed Cabinet appointments the opposition said heightened a dispute over elections that has killed more than 500 people....
A woman and children wait for armed escort inside a bus to the capital Nairobi, in Kisumu, western Kenya, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. More refugees streamed from western Kenya as fresh violence followed...   (Associated Press)
Kenyans reach out to receive food aid handed out by ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 in the Kibera slum, Nairobi. Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki has named half his Cabinet, angering opposition leaders who accuse him of stealing an election and now undermining attempts to...
Kenyans reach out to receive food aid handed out by ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008 in the Kibera slum, Nairobi. Kenya's president Mwai Kibaki has named half...   (Associated Press)
Armed Kenyan police patrol the streets as calm sets in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Kenya's president, Mwai Kibaki has named half his Cabinet, angering opposition leaders who accuse him of stealing an election and now undermining attempts to mediate a power-sharing agreement to end a crisis that has...
Armed Kenyan police patrol the streets as calm sets in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008. Kenya's president, Mwai Kibaki has named half his Cabinet, angering opposition leaders who accuse him of...   (Associated Press)
Police officers examine the body of a young Matatu minibus owner whose throat was slit on the outskirts of Nairobi, Tuesday, April 17, 2007. Seven people have been arrested in connection with beheadings that are believed to be the work of the Mungiki, a shadowy religious sect inspired by the...
Police officers examine the body of a young Matatu minibus owner whose throat was slit on the outskirts of Nairobi, Tuesday, April 17, 2007. Seven people have been arrested in connection with beheadings...   (Associated Press)
A plain clothed Kenyan policeman carries an automatic weapon as he patrols the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Paramilitary police fired tear gas Wednesday in a Nairobi slum believed to be a stronghold of the Mungiki, an outlaw street gang that has been accused of beheading...
A plain clothed Kenyan policeman carries an automatic weapon as he patrols the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Paramilitary police fired tear gas Wednesday in a Nairobi slum believed...   (Associated Press)
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