Twelve shot dead by Kenyan police

Grisly murders carried out by the Mungiki have shocked Kenyans

Police in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have shot and killed what they describe as 12 criminals.

Police say that three of the men killed were members of a sect which has been responsible for a series of brutal killings in the past few months.

Police say they opened fire on criminal gangs in three incidents in Nairobi.

"Gangsters should surrender because their days are numbered. We will not relent on the war against crime," Nairobi's police chief told reporters.

At one point, police say they chased a car containing several armed men and shot and killed the occupants in the industrial area of the city.

Police also opened fire on a group of men robbing pedestrians on the outskirts of Nairobi and more shooting took place when officers confronted what they say were members of the Mungiki sect who were extorting money from garbage collectors.

The Mungiki, a quasi-religious criminal gang, has terrorised parts of Nairobi and central Kenya in the past few months.

Mungiki followers have been linked to the gruesome murders of more than 40 people - some of whom were beheaded.