Kenya - this week sees grenade attacks increasing

Posted: 15/12/2013

Kenyan Police reported that there was a suspected grenade attack which took place on a minibus in Nairobi yesterday killing at least four people near a Somali-dominated area of the city.This incident mirrors explosions last year which were blamed on Somali militants.

Last year a series of such attacks in and around the Eastleigh area of Nairobi were blamed on Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group. The group staged an assault on the Westgate shopping mall in September this year that killed 67 people.

Al Shabaab said its gunmen carried out the mall attack to force Kenya to withdraw troops from Somalia where they are part of an African peacekeeping mission battling with the Islamists.

Police have confirmed that four people died in the explosion and it was described it as a grenade attack.

A Reuters reporter at the scene in Pangani, an area next to Eastleigh which is home to many Somalis, saw a destroyed minibus and metal, glass and other debris on the street. A car nearby was also damaged.

The local St John Ambulance reported on its Twitter account that 15 people were taken to one hospital and three died from their injuries.

Up until now, there has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

Yesterday's incident follows another grenade attack on Thursday in Mombasa against tourists and on Friday against a market in Wajir, in northeast Kenya near the Somali border. In that attack, police said masked men hurled two grenades killing one person and injuring others.

 

Source:  Reuters

Photo: Damaged vehicles are seen at the scene of a blast near Pangani Police Station in Kenya's capital Nairobi; taken 14 Dec 13

Photo: Reuters/ Noor Khamis

Back to News List