30 Sep 2012

Child dies and three injured in Kenyan church grenade attack

A grenade attack on a Nairobi church has left one child dead and three injured, in what is thought to be retaliation for Kenya’s role in fighting the Somali militant al-Shabab group.

The devestation at the Nairobi church (Reuters)

Police and hospital sources have confirmed that a nine-year-old boy died from injuries sustained in the hand grenade attack on a Sunday school lesson. Three other children are in hospital where they are being treated for their injuries.

Kenya’s acting police chief, Moses Ombati, said he suspected the attack on the St. Polycarp’s church was by sympathisers with the al-Shabab group.

Hours later these suspicons were bolstered when two police officers were shot dead in the northern town of Garissa near the Somali border. The officers’ rifles were stolen after the attack.

On Friday the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), a peacekeeping force, drove al-Shabaab out of their stronghold in the Somali city of Kismayo.

Kenyan troops officially joined AMISOM in July this year. A year ago Kenyan forces moved into Somalia to battle a series of kidnappings and attacks on Kenyan soil.

Al-Shabaab, which is allied with al-Qaeda, is believed to be responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in Somalia using roadside bombs, suicide attacks and grenades. It is suspected that Al-Shabaab may have been behind an attack on a popular Mogadishu restaurant earlier this month, which left 15 people dead.