Sunday, April 1, 2012

Grenade attacks in, near Kenya's Mombasa injure 15: media | Reuters


Reuters) - Five people were injured in a grenade attack at a packed restaurant in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa on Saturday, media and a police source said, after an earlier explosion near the city injured 10 others.

Media and the police source said the first blast was also thought to be a grenade which went off at a religious meeting in Mtwapa, outside Mombasa, but there was no official confirmation.

"One hand grenade was thrown into a pub and restaurant opposite the stadium. The place was full of people," a police source at the scene in Mombasa said by telephone of the second attack.

The east African nation has suffered a string of grenade attacks since it sent its troops across the border to Somalia to battle al Shabaab rebels.

Mombasa is a popular holiday destination and many Kenyans and foreigners are expected to go there next week for their Easter break.

Earlier this month Kenyan police arrested four people after a grenade attack at a crowded Nairobi bus station blamed on the Somali Islamist militants, but later released them on a conditional bond pending further investigations.

The Kenya Red Cross said four grenades were thrown at the bus station from a passing vehicle, killing seven people and injuring more than 40.

Al Shabaab, which formally merged with al Qaeda this year and has declared war against Kenya, denied it was responsible for the bus station attack.

That incident was similar to two attacks at another bus station and a bar in Nairobi that killed one person and wounded more than 20 in October, a week after Kenya sent troops into Somalia.

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri and Humphrey Malalo; editing by Tim Pearce)

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