A Kenyan human rights group has implicated police in the execution-style killing of more than 450 young Kenyan men since June.
The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights links the killings to a police crackdown on a violent gang, the Mungkiki, which was blamed for a string of beheadings and fatal shootings earlier this year. The commission says nearly all of those killed were shot once in the back of head before being dumped in mortuaries around the country.
It report, released Monday, stopped short of blaming police for the killings. But it says there is circumstantial evidence of police involvement.
The Associated Press quotes a police spokesman, Eric Kiraithe, as calling the allegations "total nonsense."
The Kenyan government outlawed the Mungkiki in 2002 after the group killed more than 20 people in a turf war with another gang.
The group promotes traditional rituals, but authorities say it is involved in criminal activities, including extortion and murder.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
