Five suspected thugs shot dead in Mombasa

By STANLEY MWAHANGA

Mombasa, Kenya: Police in Mombasa have gunned down five suspected thugs in Tudor area. The gang is blamed for recent spate of attacks on residents in the area.

Two pistols, three magazines and 25 rounds of ammunitions were recovered from the suspects during the 30 minutes shoot out that took place near three learning institutions.

Mombasa OCPD Geoffrey Mayek said police had received intelligence that five individuals in a vehicle were terrorising residents and that’s when officers were sent to trail the suspects.

“We received a tip off that a couple of people were terrorising residents of Tudor and when we started trailing the gang, they began shooting at officers and that is when the shootout begun,” Mayek said.

Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa said those killed were among key members of a gang that had been terrorising residents of Kisauni, Mombasa Old town and Kwale County.

He added that police have mounted a crackdown across the county to oust major criminal gangs.

The shooting comes barely a day after the killing of a prominent business man in Mombasa Old town.

“This is a general security situation that the government has mounted across the county to flush out criminal gangs,” Marwa said.

“We are sending out a warning to all criminal gangs who are out there terrorising residents,” said Marwa, who admitted that insecurity had become rife in Mombasa.

Reports from the police also confirmed that the criminals had been using a stolen vehicle.