TWIN BLASTS KILL AT LEAST 10 IN
KENYAN CAPITAL
Two improvised explosives detonated
in a market area near downtown
Nairobi, the latest in a string of
bombings
May 16, 2014 10:45AM ET
Two blasts hit Kenya's capital on
Friday, killing at least 10 people and
injuring 70 more in the latest in a
string of increasingly frequent terror
attacks.
The blasts came the same week the
United States and the United
Kingdom issued renewed warnings
about possible terror attacks in
Kenya, leading to a bristling
response on Friday from the
country's president, who said such
warnings strengthen the will of those
who carry out acts of terror.
"Terrorism is not an evil that was
born in Kenya. Terrorism is a
worldwide phenomenon," President
Uhuru Kenyatta told a previously
planned news conference that took
place shortly after the blasts.
Nairobi Police Chief Benson Kibue,
who announced the casualty figures,
said two improvised explosive
devices detonated in a market area
near downtown Nairobi. One blast hit
a mini-van used for public
transportation.
Before the blasts, the U.S. embassy
sent out a new travel alert Friday to
American citizens warning of a
continued terrorist threat in a country
where the U.S. Embassy suffered a
devastating attack in 1998.
An earlier U.S. warning this week
said for the first time that the
embassy itself is taking new steps to
increase security "due to recent
threat information regarding the
international community in Kenya."
Smaller bombings
Security concerns have long been
high in Kenya because of its
proximity to Somalia and the Al-
Qaeda-linked armed group that
operates there. In September, four al-
Shabab gunmen attacked an upscale
mall in Nairobi
, killing at least 67 people. The 1998
embassy bombing killed more than
200.
The U.S. Embassy says that more
than 100 people have been killed in
shootings, grenade attacks and small
bombs in Kenya over the past 18
months.
Since the mall attack, Kenya has
suffered numerous smaller bombings
in Nairobi and Mombasa. Kenyan
authorities, with the help of the FBI,
also discovered a huge car bomb
that could have caused massive
damage.
Armed Marines now patrol the U.S.
Embassy grounds in Nairobi in bullet
proof vests and helmets. Increasingly
frequent emergency drills tell
embassy staff: "Duck and cover, duck
and cover."
"We know from experience whether
it's been in Yemen where embassies
have been attacked or in Benghazi
where our consulate and ambassador
was attacked, anything that is a
symbol of a foreign country is a
potential target," said Scott Gration,
the immediate past U.S. ambassador
in Kenya.
Kenyatta said the government would
install 2,000 security cameras in
Nairobi and Mombasa to help thwart
future attacks.
TUI Travel, which owns the British
tourism companies Thomson and
First Choice, canceled all flights to
Mombasa until October because of
the security alert. The company also
evacuated customers in Kenya on
flights Thursday and Friday.
Gration said many tourism companies
have insurance policies that don't
allow travelers to be in high-risk
locations. He said Kenya's coast is a
beautiful and mostly safe location.
"My belief is that everywhere there
are issues and we all need to be
prudent in when we go and where we
go," Gration said. "So I don't travel at
night, avoid big crowds and lock my
doors. Whether you are in Newark,
New Jersey or Nairobi, Kenya, we
can all fall victim to crime or
terrorism."
