At least 13 people were reported to have died during two bomb attacks in
the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
The blasts, which are said to have taken place near Gikomba Market, came
the week hundreds of Western tourists were evacuated from the country due to
increasing terror threats.
The first explosion came from a 14-seater tour bus left near the area,
and the second came from within the market.
Reports suggested that two suspects had been arrested as a result of the
attack, which took place just four miles away from the Westgate Mall, where 67
people were killed by gunmen last September.
Jared Ojuk, Kenya’s deputy police spokesman, said police suspected the
blasts were caused by an improvised explosive device (IED).
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who began a previously planned news conference
only minutes after the Nairobi blasts, offered his condolences but dismissed
the United States and United Kingdom (UK) travel warnings, saying that
terrorism is a common problem, including in New York and Boston.
Earlier this week, 11 people were hospitalised after a fire incident in
the same market.
Before the blasts, the US embassy sent out a new travel alert to
American citizens warning of a continued terrorist threat in a country where
their embassy suffered a devastating attack in 1998.
An earlier US warning this week said for the first time that the embassy
itself was taking new steps to increase security “due to recent threat
information regarding the international community in Kenya.”
The British government also warned its citizens this week to avoid the
coastal city of Mombasa and beach towns nearby, prompting a travel company to
cut short the vacations of hundreds of British citizens and fl
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