Kenya foils terror attack in Mombasa
KENYAN police have arrested two men suspected of links to a Somali Islamist militant group after they were found with two large bombs that may have been intended for an attack in the port city of Mombasa.
MOMBASA The Somali al Shabaab Islamist group has claimed several attacks on Kenya in the past.
After a raid by gunman at a Nairobi shopping mall that killed at least 67 people in September, the group said it planned more attacks. The coast, which is popular with tourists, has been a target.
Al Shabaab have demanded Kenyan troops withdraw from Somalia, where they have been fighting the Islamist rebels.
Mombasa police chief Robert Kitur said: “Our first suspicion is that they are al Shabaab especially because of their origin.”
He said one man was Somali and the other was a Kenyan of Somali origin.
Police tracked the men and recovered two large improvised explosive devices from them.
Mr Kitur added: “We suspect they were planning to detonate them somewhere around Mombasa. If they had detonated, they would have caused massive destruction.”