One killed, 8 wounded in Nairobi blast-Red Cross

NAIROBI Oct 24 (Reuters) – A grenade explosion in the centre of Nairobi on Monday evening killed one person and wounded at least eight, the second attack in the Kenyan capital within 24 hours, the police said.

The two grenade blasts came two days after the U.S. embassy in Kenya warned that an attack was imminent as the east African nation fights Islamist militants in neighbouring anarchic Somalia.

“Eight casualties rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital, one dead after explosion,” the Red Cross said on its Twitter feed.

The police said the blast was at an OTC bus terminal in downtown Nairobi that would have been busy at the time of the explosion.

“An explosion has occurred at OTC, one person is dead and eight have been rushed to hospital. It was a hand grenade again,” deputy police spokesman Charles Owino said.

A grenade attack at a bar in Nairobi early on Monday morning wounded 13 patrons. No one immediately claimed responsibility for either blast.

Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels, who have mounted similar attacks in the past in Somalia and Uganda, had threatened major reprisals if Kenyan troops did not leave Somalia.

Kenyan Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said earlier on Monday there was no firm evidence to link the bar attack to al Shabaab. Senior officials from the group declined to comment.

Nairobi blames al Shabaab for a series of kidnappings of foreigners on Kenyan soil that have threatened its multi-million dollar tourism industry.

The group has denied responsibility for the kidnappings, saying Nairobi is using them as a pretext for its military campaign. (Reporting by David Clarke and Duncan Miriri; Writing by David Clarke; Editing by Kevin Liffey).

Source: Reuters