KENYA: Grenade attack in the tourist resort of Diani south of Mombasa targets holidaymakers, injuring at least 10 people

Record ID: 354084

  • Title: KENYA: Grenade attack in the tourist resort of Diani south of Mombasa targets holidaymakers, injuring at least 10 people
  • Date: 2nd January 2014
  • Summary: SCENE OF GRENADE ATTACK ARMED POLICE OFFICER ON GUARD SEALED SCENE SCATTERED CHAIRS AND DRINKS SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS GETTING BRIEFING FROM STAFF AT HOTEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOMBASA COUNTY POLICE COMMANDER, EVANS ACHOKI, SAYING: "We thank god that when this happened, it did not land where there were very many people. Approximately there were about 200 persons in this c
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA7MNLG5Z7CMORBB1ZZY3M3DSWW
  • Story Text: A grenade attack on a popular nightclub outside the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa wounded at least 10 people early on Thursday (January 2).
    The incident occurred at 3:30 am at a nightclub used by tourists in Diani some 25 km outside Mombasa, police said. The attack resembled explosions in 2012 and 2013 that were blamed on Somali militants.

    "We thank god that when this happened, it did not land where there were very many people. Approximately there were about 200 persons in this club, so when the grenade landed on the pool tables where there were very few people, so far we have 10 casualties that are undergoing treatment at Msambweni district hospital," Mombasa county police chief Evans Achoki said.
    Police did not say who was behind the attack, but the government has in the past put the blame on Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents, who have demanded the withdrawal of Kenyan troops who have joined African peacekeepers fighting the group in Somalia.
    Kenya's coast is dependent on tourism and has been plagued by attacks blamed on Islamist militants and their sympathizers.
    In September, al Shabaab gunmen attacked a Nairobi shopping mall, killing at least 67 civilians in the country's worst incident since the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy that killed more than 200 people.
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