Kenyan capital hit by bus bombings day after blasts in port city

5/4/2014

At least two people died and more than 50 people were injured in explosions yesterday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, a day after two other blasts killed four in the port city of Mombasa.

Bombs detonated on two buses traveling yesterday afternoon on Thika Road, the main highway that links Nairobi with central Kenya, Mwenda Njoka, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said by phone from the city. The Kenya National Disaster Operations Centre said 62 people were injured in the blasts.

Kenya has faced a growing number of attacks since sending troops to fight Islamist militants in neighboring Somalia three years ago. In September, an attack on Nairobi’s upscale Westgate mall killed at least 67 people. Al-Shabaab, a Somali militia affiliated with al-Qaeda, took responsibility for that attack, saying it was in retaliation for Kenya’s troop deployment.

On May 2, Kenyan police shot dead two suspected militants thought to have been planning an attack on Kenya Power and Lighting Co. power plants in northeastern Kenya, David Kimaiyo, inspector general of the National Police Service, told reporters in Nairobi today. Police officers from Mandera and Wajir counties also seized weapons and ammunition in the operation, he said.

The Mombasa bombings, which left 28 people injured, are under investigation, Kimaiyo said, without giving further details. The city is home to East Africa’s biggest port.