Grenade attacks hit Kenyan coastal towns

At least one person dead and several injured after blast at Christian rally in Mtwapa, and another attack in Mombasa.

Kenya attacks
At least three people have been hurt in the attack at a restaurant in Mombasa, a popular holiday destination [Reuters]

One person has been killed and many others wounded in two separate grenade attacks on Kenyan coastal cities.

The first attack at a Christian rally in Mtwapa, northeast of Mombasa, left 10 people injured, sources told Al Jazeera on Saturday.

At least three others were hurt in the second attack, which took place at a restaurant in Mombasa.

“The first blast happened at a Christian rally in the town of Mtwapa about 10km from Mombasa, the second city of Kenya,” Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reported from Mombasa.

“There, police say that one person was killed and 10 people injured although other sources I spoke to put the death toll at as much as six.

“The second blast happened in the middle of Mombasa town and it happened at a restaurant.”

Coast police chief Aggrey Adoli told the AFP news agency that three people, including one police officer, sustained minor injuries in that second attack.

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Our correspondent said no one had claimed responsibility for the incidents, but police told Al Jazeera the attacks are suspected to be linked to the Somali armed group al-Shabab.

“The one in Mtwapa happened at the heart of Kenya’s tourism industry and Mtwapa is where many five-star hotels are,” Adow said.

In that incident, the attacker threw the grenade into a crowd of people and then escaped on foot, police official Jacinta Kinywa told the AP news agency.

In the second attack, “one hand grenade was thrown into a pub and restaurant opposite the stadium. The place was full of people,” a police source at the scene of the second attack told the Reuters news agency.

Mombasa is a popular holiday destination and many Kenyans and foreigners would be planning to head there next week for their Easter breaks.

Kenya has seen several hit-and-run grenade attacks in recent months in the capital, Nairobi.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies