Hunt for Nairobi bombers on

May 05, 2014

AT least two people were killed and dozens more wounded when bombs exploded in two buses on a busy highway in the Kenyan capital Nairobi

AT least two people were killed and dozens more wounded when bombs exploded in two buses on a busy highway in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, officials said.

The bombings came just a day after twin attacks in the restive port city of Mombasa, including a grenade attack on a bus, which killed four, and a bombing outside a luxury beach hotel.

Kenya's Disaster Operation Centre said the bus bombings had killed two and wounded 62, with 20 of them in a critical condition -- mostly women and children.

"Two people have died while being taken to hospital," a police official also told an AFP reporter at the scene.

Kenya's Vice President William Ruto said in a statement that "security agencies are in pursuit of the perpetrators of this heinous and cowardly act."

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Injured men are being helped after two explosions along a busy highway in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. AFP Photo

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An injured person is being evacuated after the two explosions. AFP Photo

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, although Kenyan authorities are currently engaged in a major security crackdown on suspected supporters of neighbouring Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab rebels.

Kenyan media reports said bombs appeared to have been planted on the buses, while unconfirmed reports said powerful grenades may have been thrown at them from the side of the road.

The buses blew up along the Thika Road highway, an area around eight kilometres (five miles) northeast of Nairobi's city centre.

An AFP reporter at the scene saw a red passenger bus with a large hole in its side, and with the ripped panels spattered in blood. Kenyan media also showed images of a green bus with its roof and sides buckled by an explosion.

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An injured woman is being evacuated after two explosions hit two buses along Nairobi's Thika Road. AFP Photo

The Nation newspaper said the 45-seater buses were almost full when the blasts occurred.

Both Nairobi and Muslim-majority Mombasa, a port city that is one of the main gateways to East Africa as well as a popular tourist destination, have been hit by sporadic unrest in recent months.

Kenya has been targeted by Shebab since sending troops to war-torn Somalia in 2011. Kenyan soldiers are still posted in southern Somalia as part of an African Union force supporting the country's fragile internationally backed government.

The Islamist group claimed responsibility for the high-profile attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall last year in which at least 67 people were killed.

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The wreckage of a bus is seen at the site of a bomb blast in Nairobi. Some Kenyan media reports said that explosive devices, possibly powerful grenades, may have been thrown at the buses from the side of the road. AFP Photo

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Members of the Kenyan Special forces take images for evidence at the site of a bomb blast. AFP Photo

In March two people were arrested in Mombasa along with a car expertly packed with explosives. Intelligence sources say they believe the car was rigged in Somalia and driven into Kenya for a high-profile bombing.

Nairobi and Mombasa have also seen a string of smaller bombings and shootings blamed on Islamists, pushing national security to the top of the agenda in the east African nation -- which once proudly identified itself as a bastion of stability in the region.

Kenyan police have also been under fire for an ongoing crackdown in Nairobi which has seen thousands of people detained -- most of them Somalis or ethnic Somalis.

The operation has focussed on Nairobi's main Somali district Eastleigh, and residents have accused police of indiscriminately arresting people of Somali origin.

AFP

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