Suicide bomber hits Nairobi

Jun 11, 2007

NAIROBI, Monday, At least one person was killed and dozens injured by a bomb blast during morning rush hour in the Kenyan capital Nairobi thought to be the work of a suicide bomber.

NAIROBI, Monday, At least one person was killed and dozens injured by a bomb blast during morning rush hour in the Kenyan capital Nairobi thought to be the work of a suicide bomber.

The remains of the suspected perpetrator lay beside a broken hawker’s table surrounded by debris and shattered glass near the blood-stained walls of a central Nairobi hotel.

One witness, 30-year-old Joshua Kinyanjui, said he saw the bomber carrying a device in a bag when it detonated.

“There were two men walking together, one was carrying a bag. There was an explosion, one guy was blown up, the other one fell down next to him.

“They looked like Africans, they were wearing casual clothes. They were walking towards Ambassadeur Hotel,” he added.

The explosion was only a few hundred metres from where a massive blast ripped through the US embassy in 1998, leaving 213 people dead. That attack was claimed by Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.

Police and aid officials said they suspected Monday’s attack in front of the crowded City Gate restaurant on Moi Avenue, one of Nairobi’s main streets, was carried out by a suicide bomber who was the only fatality in the blast.

“It was a bomb explosion and body parts have been thrown apart,” policeman Gabriel Omondi told AFP, while Moses Muchoki of the Kenyan Red Cross said: “I can confirm one dead. He is a suspected suicide bomber.”

A spokesman for Kenyatta National Hospital, Herman Wabomba, said doctors had received 36 injured, four of them requiring surgery, and had set up a crisis centre.

Of these, 14 have been admitted to hospital and four undergoing surgery, Wabomba added.

An AFP correspondent saw shredded papers from a Koran strewn around the blast site, perhaps clutched by the attacker.

“The attack carries the hallmark of a suicide bomber, but we are investigating. We are suspecting that the dead was the bomber,” said a top Police official, requesting to remain unnamed.

Anti-terrorism Police arrived at the explosion site to investigate as security officers cordoned off the area from thousands of onlookers and rescue workers and ambulances scrambled to make it through the snarled traffic.

Paramilitary Police chased the crowds away as investigators combed the area for clues.

Police Commissioner Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali confirmed the casualties, but would not say point blank that it was a suicide blast.

“An incident has occurred, but at this particular stage we do not have very much to say,” Ali told a press conference at the scene.

Witnesses described the force of the blast, which ripped through the busy main street as people made their way to work in the morning rush hour.

“It was a huge explosion that occurred as I was headed to (the) office, I suspect it was a bomb,” said Paul Mwangi.

Kenya has been on alert since January when the government said suspected Islamist fighters, accused of links to extremist groups, had fled Somalia.

East Africa has seen several Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist attacks in recent years, including the near-simultaneous bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing a total of 224 people and injuring some 5,000.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated attackers bombed an Israeli-owned resort hotel near Mombasa in November 2002, killing 15 civilians and three presumed suicide bombers, and unsuccessfully attempted to shoot down an Israeli airliner there on the same day.

In January, the US warned its citizens in Kenya of possible reprisals by terrorists after Somalia’s Islamists were ousted.

“Due to possible reprisals by terrorist organisations, American citizens are advised to remain vigilant, avoid demonstrations or large gatherings, and to be cautious when frequenting prominent public places and landmarks,” its embassy said in a message released in January.

The explosion came after weeks of violence by the politically-linked sect called Mungiki, which is currently facing a crackdown for beheading people.

Police have so far killed at least 38 Mungiki suspects, whose attacks come ahead of the December general elections.

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