Fighting in Mathare slum leaves eight dead.

Calm has returned to Mathare slum in northeastern Nairobi after five days of fighting between two outlawed gangs which residents say have left at least eight people dead and thousands more displaced from their homes, international news sources report. Special police forces intervened to stem the violence between the Mungiki, an established sect in Kenya, and the Taliban, a newer local group, which broke out at the weekend allegedly over the control of the trade in the local bootleg liquor. However, police spokesman Gideon Kibunjah has said the fighting had tribal undertones with support from politicians. Hundreds of makeshift homes were destroyed by fire and the displaced and those too frightened to remain in the slum, home to an estimated 400,000 people are camped out at the nearby Kenya Airforce base at Eastleigh, where they are being assisted by the Kenya Red Cross. The violence comes while around 6,000 delegates are in Nairobi for a major international conference on climate change.