Clash with gang kills 29 in Kenya

Villagers in central Kenya clashed with a criminal gang using machetes, axes and clubs, killing at least 29 people and leaving the streets stained with blood, police said Tuesday.

Residents near the town of Karatina fought Mungiki members overnight because the gang had been extorting money from them, deputy police spokesman Charles Owino said.

“The majority of the dead are Mungiki members,” Owino said.

At least three others were seriously wounded. Police arrested 37 people, police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said. Police also seized machetes, axes and clubs from the suspects.

President Mwai Kibaki and a government-appointed human rights body called for an investigation.

The Mungiki emerged in the 1990s, inspired by the 1950s Mau Mau rebellion against British colonial rule. The gang has been linked to extortion, killings and political violence. The group is believed to have thousands of followers, drawn from the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest tribe and the dominant force in the country’s politics and business.

Kenya is riven by ethnic loyalties, but the attacks in the village of Gathaithi in central Kenya, an area populated mainly by the Kikuyu, apparently involved only Kikuyu.