Taliban

The Taliban is a Kenyan criminal organization that has no connection to the Afghan Taliban other than its name. They belong to the Luo tribe. and feel allegiance to Luo leader and multiple Kenyan presidential candidate Raila Odinga. Their leader is Joash Oluande, a born-again Christian. They recruit primarily from Mathare, Huruma, Baba Dogo, Kariobangi North and Kariobangi South quarters, slums of Nairobi.Their main opponents are the Mungiki of the Kikuyu tribe. History The Taliban emerged as an offshoot of the Baghdad Boys, the original grouping that was the Luo tribes' response to the Mungiki. The Baghdad Boys of Kisumu emerged in the early 1990s around the time of the 2nd Gulf War, which gives inference to the choice of name. They were frequently used as a militia in Kenya's first general elections after the introduction of the multiparty system,[6] in 1992 and 1997. The group, most recently active in the Nairobi slums of Mathare and Ruaraka, later broke up into several factions, with Taliban being the largest and most influential. Other splinter groups include ChinaSquadNyalenda Base, Chief Squad, Nyamasaria Massive, Kenda Kenda, Kondele Baghdad for Peace, Karamojong Boys, Saba Saba, Artur Margaryan, Kebago, and American Marines. The Taliban split from the Baghdad Boys in about 2001 in the Eastlands slums in Nairobi because Luos felt increasingly exploited and threatened by Mungikis. The name Taliban is a Luo allusion to the way people in Afghanistan resisted American occupation by throwing stones. This is a commonality, as Luo men like to fight using stones as weapons. The Taliban began as kamjeshi. In the Kenyan youth language Sheng, this term refers to groups of young men who provide security at bus stops and public transportation for a fee. The Taliban had political affiliations from the beginning, but their political ties and ethnic profile became more apparent in their dispute with Mungiki over control of transportation routes.