13 killed in Kenyan bomb blast

Posted by admin Africa & World Politics, Headlines Saturday, May 17th, 2014

AT least 13 people were reported to have died during two bomb attacks in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

The blasts, which are said to have taken place near Gikomba Market, came the week hundreds of Western tourists were evacuated from the country due to increasing terror threats.

The first explosion came from a 14-seater tour bus left near the area, and the second came from within the market.

Reports suggested that two suspects had been arrested as a result of the attack, which took place just four miles away from the Westgate Mall, where 67 people were killed by gunmen last September.

Jared Ojuk, Kenya’s deputy police spokesman, said police suspected the blasts were caused by an improvised explosive device (IED).

President Uhuru Kenyatta, who began a previously planned news conference only minutes after the Nairobi blasts, offered his condolences but dismissed the United States and United Kingdom (UK) travel warnings, saying that terrorism is a common problem, including in New York and Boston.

Earlier this week, 11 people were hospitalised after a fire incident in the same market.

Before the blasts, the US embassy sent out a new travel alert to American citizens warning of a continued terrorist threat in a country where their embassy suffered a devastating attack in 1998.

An earlier US warning this week said for the first time that the embassy itself was taking new steps to increase security “due to recent threat information regarding the international community in Kenya.”

The British government also warned its citizens this week to avoid the coastal city of Mombasa and beach towns nearby, prompting a travel company to cut short the vacations of hundreds of British citizens.wp_posts