Police gun down 8 carjackers in Mwiki, Kasarani

One of the vehicles that was recovered after police shot dead eight suspected gangsters in Mwiki, Kasarani June 20, 2013. WILLIAM OERI

What you need to know:

  • Motorists abandoned their vehicles along the road causing a heavy traffic snarl up as everyone caught in the thick of the action scampered for safety.

Police on Thursday evening gunned down eight suspected carjackers after a fierce gun battle in Nairobi’s Kasarani estate.

Officers from the Special Crime Prevention Unit who had been trailing the gangsters shot them dead at Mwiki.

Witnesses said the gangsters engaged the police in a fierce exchange of fire before the officers finally shot them dead in the 8pm incident.

Motorists abandoned their vehicles along the road causing a heavy traffic snarl up as everyone caught in the thick of the action scampered for safety.

Two guns and several ceska and browning pistols were recovered from the slain suspects and several rounds of ammunition.

Police also recovered two cars including one whose owner had been carjacked in Rongai on Wednesday.

Nairobi police boss Benson Kibui said the gang was part of a larger one which is behind a series of carjackings and robberies in the city.