Two blasts hit Kenya's capital on Friday, killing 10 people and injuring 70 more in the latest in a string of increasingly frequent terror attacks.
The blasts came the same week the United States and the U.K. issued renewed warnings about possible terror attacks in Kenya, leading to a bristling response from the country's President Friday, who said such warnings strengthen the will of terrorists.
Nairobi Police Benson Kibue, who announced the casualty figures, said two improvised explosive devices detonated in a market area near downtown Nairobi. One blast hit a mini-van used for public transportation.
Before the blasts, the United States embassy sent out a new travel alert Friday to American citizens warning of a continued terrorist threat in a country where the U.S. Embassy suffered a devastating attack in 1998.
An earlier U.S. warning this week reportedly said for the first time that the embassy itself is taking new steps to increase security "due to recent threat information regarding the international community in Kenya."
It was gathered that Britain's 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 fly them home.
Security concerns have long been high in Kenya because of its proximity to Somalia and the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group that operates there. In September, four al-Shabab gunmen attacked an upscale mall in Nairobi, killing at least 67 people. The 1998 embassy bombing killed more than 200.
Armed Marines now patrol the U.S. Embassy grounds in Nairobi in bullet proof vests and helmets. Increasingly frequent emergency drills tell embassy staff: "Duck and cover, duck and cover."
"We know from experience whether it's been in Yemen where embassies have been attacked or in Benghazi where our consulate and ambassador was attacked, anything that is a symbol of a foreign country is a potential target," said Scott Gration, the immediate past U.S. ambassador in Kenya.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who began a previously planned news conference only minutes after the Nairobi blasts, offered his condolences but dismissed the U.S. and U.K. travel warnings, saying that terrorism is a common problem, including in New York and Boston.
Kenyatta said he was aware of Britain's warning and the decision to evacuate tourists.
"I don't want to refer to anybody in particular. Acts like were done yesterday, by the people you just mentioned, only strengthens the will of terrorists as opposed to helping us defeat that war," Kenyatta said.
The similarity of terrorist attacks in Nigeria and Kenya can not be over emphasized, (public bus attacks, markets, bus -stops) considering the fact that these two are emerging African economies in the global terrain.- Roving Informant.
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