One killed, 8 wounded in Nairobi blast
A grenade thrown into a downscale Nairobi pub early Monday exploded and
wounded a dozen people two days after the U.S. warned of possible terror attacks
in Kenya's capital. Police said it was too early to name a suspect.
Any such attack in Nairobi would immediately
arouse suspicion that Somali militants from al-Shabab carried out the assault.
The al-Qaida-linked group earlier this month promised to unleash terror attacks in
Nairobi in response to a push by Kenya's military into southern Somalia.
Monday's grenade explosion, though, did not bear
the hallmarks of well-planned terror attack. The U.S. on Saturday warned
of an imminent terrorist attack and said likely targets include shopping malls
and night clubs where foreigners congregate. Conversely, the grenade explosion
occurred at a downtrodden bar where only lower-income Kenyans meet.
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told a
news conference Monday that the grenade exploded at 1:15 a.m. while 20 people
were inside the bar. Three people were seriously wounded, he said. The blast
overturned chairs and tables, and blood stained the floor. Iteere said police
did not yet have any suspects.
"It is too early at this point in time to
give a conclusive answer," he said, adding later: "The person who lobbed the
grenade into the pub was not seen by anybody."
Police have tightened security around hotels, bridges and fuel depots, Iteere
said.
The weapon used Monday was a Russian-made F1
grenade, he said. A similar type of grenade was used in a downtown Nairobi
attack in December 2010 at a bus station. That attack killed one person.
Three grenades exploded at a political rally in downtown Nairobi in June
2010, killing six people. In December that year two traffic police died when
they were shot and a third was seriously injured by a grenade.
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