NAIROBI (NNN-AGENCIES) -- Ten people were killed and 50 others critically injured in separate grenade attacks at two churches in Garissa, a city in the North Eastern Province of Kenya.
Seven were killed at the AIC church while another three died at Central Cathedral Catholic church during the Sunday morning services.
North Eastern PC James Oleserian said among those killed are two police officers adding that those injured have been rushed to the Garissa General Hospital and other health facilities in the area.
Eyewitnesses said that four masked gunmen sprayed bullets at the AIC church congregation before hurling grenades at them.
Speaking to KBC on phone, Oleserian said security agents are in pursuit of the attackers adding that road blocks have been erected on all roads into and out of the town.
He called on area residents to give any information that may lead to their arrest.
Regional deputy police commander Phillip Ndolo said the security forces have been mobilized to pursue the attackers, adding that investigations have also been launched to establish the motive behind the two attacks.
According to some worshippers, a man hurled two grenades at the faithful at the AIC but only one exploded, injuring many worshipers who were inside the church.
"The person threw two grenades but only one exploded but the other one did not explode. Several people were injured. I could not establish how many people were dead because I was also rushing for safety," said one of the witnesses who did not want to be named.
The latest incident came exactly a week after at least three people were killed and 25 others injured in grenade attacks in the coastal city of Mombasa.
The incidents came days after the U.S. government warned of an ' imminent threat' of a terror attack on Mombasa and urged American government officials to vacate the port city.
Washington suspended all U.S. government travel to the coastal city of Mombasa until July 1, adding that American private citizens are not subject to the same restrictions but should consider this information in their travel planning.
However, the Kenyan government protested at the travel advisory, terming it an economic sabotage as it was meant to scare away tourists due to threats from Al-Shabab blamed for abductions and grenade attacks that have so far rocked the east African nation.
The Al-Shabaab have so far not claimed responsibility of the latest incident but the explosion came amid intensified security checks in the northern region especially near the border with Somalia in an effort to flush out Al-Shabaab militia in the east African nation.
Al-Shabaab is a Somali-based terrorist group that at one time controlled large administrative areas of the lawless country. It has claimed links to the global al Qaida terrorist network.
However, the group's territorial control has come under attack in the last six months from the Kenya Defense Forces after a series of abductions targeting tourists and aid workers that were blamed on the group.
The militant group has also come under pressure from Uganda, Burundi and Sierra Leone soldiers who recently pushed out them out of the outskirts of Somali capital Mogadishu.
Since the Kenya military incursion into Somalia several attacks believed to have been carried out by Al-Shabaab have occurred in Mandera, Wajir, and Garissa and Dadaab districts of northern Kenya even as the military reports gains against the militants by capturing their military bases and killing scores of them. -- NNN-AGENCIES
0 comments:
Post a Comment