Police in Mombasa on Sunday felled a suspected gangster that is said to have been on the police watch-list for a long time.
According to the police, the suspect, Abdallah Swaleh alias Vumbi, and four others were ambushed while attacking residents at Wa Maka area with machetes.
Benjamin Rotich, Likoni OCPD, said the suspects declined to surrender and attempted to attack the police officers, prompting them to open fire killing one of them on the spot.
The other suspects escaped unhurt and still at large.
Police recovered two pangas at the scene.
The body of the deceased was taken to the Coast General Hospital mortuary.
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The killing comes a month after police launched an operation in the coastal region following bloody attacks in Nyali and Kisauni by Wakali Kwanza group. The attacks left at least 13 people injured.
Speaking in the Central region in August, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i vowed to crush gang groups in the region which he said are being assembled by politicians “in the name of political mobilization”.
He noted that he will oversee an operation in the affected areas to ensure such illegal groups are dealt with accordingly.
Read Also: CS Matiang’i Vows To Apply ‘Unprecedented Pressure’ To Crush Wakali Kwanza Group
“Under the guise of political mobilisation, we are seeing possible signs of attempts or efforts to revive or recreate criminal gangs. Not just here in the Central part of the country, but the rest of Kenya. What is going on in the Coast region is a feature of that,” said the Interior CS.
“I want to assure the people of Kenya that we are prepared to deal with that. In fact, I am going to spend a good part of my time next week in Coast region because of these issues,” said Matiang’i, adding: “We are going to apply unprecedented pressure on these groups. We will not play around with the lives of our people.”
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