/ 22 June 2007

Overnight violence claims lives in Kenya

Eleven people were killed in and around the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, during a surge in violence overnight, including two people found beheaded and eight killed in a shootout, police said on Friday.

Three people — including the two who were beheaded — were found slain in Banana Hill on the outskirts of Nairobi, where police have been cracking down on a banned sect called Mungiki, which is accused of a string of beheadings.

Kiplimo Rugut, the Provincial Commissioner of Central Province, confirmed the three were found dead. A police officer at the scene, who didn’t want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said two were beheaded.

In a separate incident, police shot eight suspects who were trying to rob a warehouse of the Kenya Electricity Generating Company, said Julius Muthuri, police official in the industrial area of Nairobi.

”Police shot down eight suspects who wanted to rob KenGen,” he said. KenGen produces about 80% of the electricity consumed in the country. — Sapa-AP