Police shoot dead four suspected thugs in Nairobi

Updated Thursday, July 25th 2013 at 13:09 GMT +3

By Cyrus Ombati and Leah Gondi-Ogondi

Nairobi, Kenya: Four suspected thugs were Thursday morning shot dead by police and two pistols with 17 bullets recovered from them in Kariokor area, Nairobi.

Police said they also recovered a salon car that is believed to have been stolen from an unidentified motorist in the raging rate of crime.

According to Nairobi County police commander Benson Kibui, the men aged between 20 and 25 were headed for a robbery mission in the area when they were confronted by officers from Flying Squad unit.

“In the confrontation four men were fatally wounded and we have so far recovered two pistols with 17 bullets from them,” he said from the scene.

The shooting perhaps shows the kind of pressure police have to contain increasing rate of crime, which has been blamed on lack of employment on the majority of youths.

It is also the latest in a series that have happened in the last month alone leaving up to 30 of suspects being killed.

Witnesses said the men were driving in their car when police confronted them near the Total petrol station in that area.

It was in the process that their car was rained on with bullets with some of the suspects trying to escape in vain.

The shooting brought to six, the number of the suspects killed by police since Wednesday night in the war on crime.

Police uniforms were also recovered from them.

The other incident happened in Githurai Kimbo area in the city where a suspect was shot dead by police and pistol, Sh2,000 and a mobile phone that had been robbed from a pedestrian recovered from him.

Police say the deceased was in the company of three others and had been mugging pedestrians when an alarm was raised on Wednesday night.

The second suspect was killed in Kibera slums in a botched robbery and jungle police uniform recovered from him. Police say they are investigating the source of the uniforms. The bodies were taken to the mortuary.