Mombasa blast kills 3 and injures dozens; one suspect detained

June 25, 2012

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A grenade attack at a bar in Kenya's port city of Mombasa on Sunday (June 24th) killed three people and injured 30, according to the Kenya Red Cross and police officials.

The victims were taken to a nearby hospital while police and anti-terrorism and criminal investigations units closed off the area for inspection, Kenya's Daily Nation reported.

The blast occurred at the Jericho Beer Garden in the densely Mishomoroni district, where football fans were watching the Euro 2012 quarter-final match between England and Italy, AFP reported.

"Two of the victims died in hospital. One had died earlier at the scene of the blast," said Kenya Red Cross spokeswoman Nelly Muluka.

Provincial police chief Aggrey Adoli said one of the injured was being held as a suspect. "One of those wounded people is assisting us because he is providing contradictory statements," he said.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kenya has witnessed several terrorist attacks since launching a military campaign against al-Shabaab in neighbouring Somalia last year, including an attack on a Mombasa restaurant in May.

The blast on Sunday came one day after the United States government warned of "an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa". France's embassy in Nairobi also warned its citizens to be "extremely vigilant" in Mombasa and the surrounding area.

The warnings came after Kenyan police said they had detained two Iranian nationals on Wednesday and Thursday over suspected links to a terror network planning bombings in Mombasa and Nairobi, AFP reported.

Criminal investigations chief Ambrose Munyasia said Coast province police were on "high alert".

"We are doing everything possible to ensure people in the Coast are safe," he said on Saturday. "We have intensified security but we are urging the public to work closely with us in providing information."

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  • helly
    June 27, 2012 @ 07:07:46AM

    Like

  • Ali
    June 26, 2012 @ 12:57:47PM

    oh Allah untill when those criminals attack people!!!! Allah will help the people and they will defet terrorist for Sure that is just a matter of time .

  • jeremiah jeremy
    June 26, 2012 @ 01:51:54AM

    NSIS is totally asleep. Howomes that the alert is given by outsiders when NSIS has got no information and then the attack heppens as it was foretold if they are no asleep?

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