NAIROBI, June 8, SPA -- Hundreds of people carryingclothing, cooking oil and other belongings fled a sprawlingNairobi shantytown Friday after a violent weeklong raid bypolice searching for a shadowy sect accused in a string ofbeheadings, REPORTED AP. Police have killed more than 30 people and arrested 300since Monday in Mathare, believed to be a stronghold forthe secretive Mungiki. The group was inspired by the 1950sMau Mau uprising against British rule, but has become astreet gang linked to murder, political violence andextortion. Residents loaded their items onto pickup trucks andwheelbarrows or simply carried them out of the Mathareslum's maze of dusty streets and wooden shacks. Many headedto the nearby Eastleigh neighborhood and found shelter inchurches. «I have never witnessed in my life anything like what ishappening,» Jane Wachira, a 37-year-old mother of three,told The Associated Press as she packed her bags. «Mychildren and I are traumatized and could not sleep lastnight. We thought police might conduct another raid.» Authorities demolished homes, forced residents to kneeland were seen beating people with truncheons. Police saythey have recovered three guns and human flesh believed tobe used for Mungiki oath taking. Mungiki is accused in the deaths of at least 20 people inthe past three months, including 12 found mutilated orbeheaded since May. The group is accused of killing twopolice officers Monday. Mungiki claims to have thousands of adherents, all drawnfrom the Kikuyu, Kenya's largest tribe. Members of thegroup, whose name means «multitude» in the Kikuyulanguage, traditionally wear dreadlocks, inspired by theMau Mau who wore them as a symbol of anti-colonialism andtheir determination not to conform to Western norms. Inrecent years, however, many Mungiki have shaved theirheads, believing dreadlocks are too conspicuous. Sect members pray facing Mount Kenya, which the Kikuyubelieve to be the home of their supreme deity. The groupalso encourages female genital mutilation and using tobaccosnuff. Mungiki was outlawed in 2002 after at least 20 people werekilled in fighting between it and another gang whosemembers come from the Luo tribe of western Kenya. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/457021