Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Deadly explosions hit Nairobi



By Cyrus Ombati
Two blasts separated by several hours hit downtown Nairobi on Monday killing one person and injuring as many as 32.
The blasts came even as the Kenya Defence Forces stopped issuing daily updates on their military operations and the Somalia’s President appeared to denounce the incursion.
The first attack at 1.15am was a grenade blast in a
A scenes from Monday night’s deadly explosion along Temple road in downtown Nairobi where a blast ripped through commuters waiting to board public service vehicles after work. Photos: Stafford Ondego/standard
backstreet bar known as Mwaura’s on Mfangano Lane, just off Mfangano Street in the city. It injured 14 people, four of them critically.
The second blast occurred at the busy OTC bus terminus along Temple road near Jack and Jill Supermarket and the Salvation Army headquarters, killing one person and injuring 18.
Details of the second attack were still scanty at the time of going to press.
Witnesses said tens of people were waiting for commuter vehicles popularly known as matatus to take them home after work when the explosion went off shortly after 7pm.
Hundreds of others were thrown into panic after the incidents as many vehicles were trapped in traffic following confusion from the fleeing survivors who were running away for dear life.
At least 18 others were rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital as the body of a middle-aged person who succumbed to multiple injuries to the head and abdomen laid prostate on the ground.
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere and director of Criminal Investigation Department Mr Ndegwa Muhoro rushed to the scene and looked shaken as they commandeered rescue vehicles to help the injured and clear the traffic thrown into a mess by the explosion.
"These people [Al-Shabaab] appear they have declared a war on Kenyans and we are mobilising all resources at our disposal to ensure we
keep Kenyans safe," said Iteere who commandeered General Service Unit (GSU) and regular police officers to cordon off the area in the wake of
fresh attacks.
The last night attack happened along Temple road near Jack and Jill Supermarket and the Salvation Army headquarters where matatus plying the route to Kiambu always stop to drop and take passengers.
On Monday Iteere ordered the area sealed off and posted 200 police officers to secure it.
"It is clear their targets were innocent commuters who crowd the area during rush hours to catch a
means home." Iteere said. There were tense moments as the officers engaged in pushing shoving members of the public who wanted to catch a glimpse of the scene.
Local and international bomb experts arrived at the scene and picked up shrapnel for examination. Police
had a hectic time screaming and shoving people aside to enable rescue teams access the scene.
Shocked onlookers, mainly men, milled around the scene as the traffic jam snarled up, with many vehicles trapped on the road unawares of what was happening.
Traffic police abandoned their duties of marshalling traffic in the confusion occasionally clutching their radio communication gadgets to get a brief on the unfolding scene.
Earlier in the day, Iteere said no one had claimed responsibility for the earlier grenade attack on a bar.
The police, while noting that the first attack followed repeated threats of reprisals by the Al-Shabaab, said no one had claimed responsibility for the incident and the motive was hazy even as we went to Press.
The 1.15am attack came less than 24 hours after the US Embassy in Nairobi warned of impending terror attacks on foreigners. However, the injured in Monday’s incident were all Kenyans.
The attacker took off after hurling the grenade at patrons. There are two entry and exit routes to the lane on which the bar is located; one is on Mfangano Street and the other on Ronald Ngala Street.
It was after hours and the owner of the bar had locked the doors, apparently with patrons still inside, a common practice by bar owners after the advent of the Alcoholics Control Act that restricts drinking hours.
However, the attacker posed as a patron, knocked on the steel doors and was opened for by a guard, after which he lobbed the explosive device inside and fled on foot.
Seconds later a loud explosion was heard. Many of those seriously injured were hit by broken glass after the Russian F1 fragmentation grenade landed.
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told reporters at a briefing on Monday that a similar grenade was used in December last year in attack that killed two traffic police officers at the Kasarani roundabout in Nairobi.
"We do not know where these people are getting them from. Kenyan security agencies do not use the grenades in their operations, but we are on ground in efforts to know the source," said Iteere.
Police quickly sealed off the area and a bomb squad moved in to carry out investigations. The police also released emergency numbers for the public to call in case of any suspicions or emergency.
Military blackout
They are 999, 112, 0202724154 and 0203556771. The public is being asked to look out for anything or anyone suspicious, and owners of establishments
that admit the public in large numbers have been advised to carry out thorough security checks on their patrons and vehicles, and to take nothing for granted.
Four of the revelers were on Monday fighting for their lives at the Kenyatta National Hospital. Nine of the injured were treated and discharged. One victim faced possible loss of his left leg due to the serious wounds inflicted by the blast, while another might lose an eye.
Most of the victims injured had tissue injuries on their legs, faces, head and hands and doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital said they were in stable condition.
Following the blackout by the military on news updates news agencies and the BBC website reported that Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has opposed Kenya’s military operation against southern rebel positions, saying he wanted only logistical support and training.
At the Kenyatta National Hospital, survivors mentioned hearing a loud explosion before they found themselves in the ward.
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