US warns of ‘imminent attack in Kenya’

Underscoring the threat, police said they recovered suspected bomb-making material in the capital Nairobi on Saturday, the second such discovery this past week in the country.

 

The US embassy said in a statement dated 22 June on its website that it had also suspended travel for its government officials to Mombasa, a tourist destination popular with foreigners, until 1 July.

Mombasa, the capital Nairobi and other parts of Kenya have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last year to pursue al-Qaeda-allied al-Shabab fighters it blames for a surge in violence and kidnappings threatening tourism in east Africa’s biggest economy.

“This is to alert all US citizens in Kenya, or planning to travel to Kenya in the near future, that the US Embassy in Nairobi has received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa,” the embassy statement said.

“All US government travel to Mombasa is suspended until 1 July, 2012. All US government personnel are required to leave Mombasa.”

The embassy said private citizens would not face the same restrictions, but advised them to heed the warning while planning their travels.

The warning comes days after police arrested two Iranians after seizing chemicals they suspected were going to be used to make explosives in Mombasa.

In the most recent attack in the country, a bomb exploded in a trading centre in the heart of Nairobi in late May, wounding more than 30 people. One person later died from injuries.

Armed men also detonated grenades outside a nightclub in Mombasa in May, killing one person and wounding several others.

On Saturday, Anthony Kibuchi, Nairobi’s police commander, said police had recovered a bag of what appeared to be detonators labelled “Magnum Buster”.

“We are in hot pursuit of the suspects,” Kibuchi saids, saying they were looking for three people.

Two police officers were wounded in an explosion from an improvised device in the north eastern town of Mandera.

North eastern deputy police commander Philip Ndolo said a suspect had been arrested.

“The two officers were hit and injured by an object. We believe it is an improvised explosive device,” Ndolo said by telephone. — Al Jazeera.