Police arrest eight after attacks in Kenyan port city
Mon Jul 21, 2014 2:56pm GMT
* Gunmen say rampage was response to raid on al Shabaab
* Police dismiss suggestion it was revenge attack
By Joseph Akwiri
MOMBASA, Kenya, July 21 (Reuters) - Kenyan police arrested eight suspects on
Monday in connection with an attack in the port city of Mombasa at the
weekend that killed four people, a senior police officer said.
Witnesses said gunmen went on a shooting rampage and scattered leaflets
saying the attack was retribution for last month's raid on Mpeketoni, a town
about 300 km (180 miles) north of Mombasa along Kenya's Indian Ocean
coastline.
There have been a string of attacks along Kenya's coast, most of them
claimed by the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, such as the Mpeketoni raid
in mid-June. Analysts say a mix of local grievances and Islamist militancy
have fuelled violence.
"We launched a manhunt for the suspects involved, because we had some
information about them, and we have so far managed to arrest eight and are
closing up on more," Robert Kitur, Mombasa County Police Commander, told
journalists.
He blamed the suspects for scattering the leaflets but dismissed the idea
that the assault was a revenge attack, saying it was aimed at showing
discord on the already volatile coast.
Al Shabaab said its attacks on the coast were revenge for Kenya's deployment
of troops with other African Union troops to Somalia. The Kenyan government
dismissed the claims of responsibility and blamed local political networks
instead for the violence.
The Mpeketoni attacks, which killed 65 people, and others on the coast have
stoked tensions between rival ethnic groups in a region which has been
plagued by disputes over land ownership and complaints that central
government has ignored problems.
Analysts say Islamists may have exploited those grievances to stir up
trouble in a country where ethnic loyalties and political allegiances tend
to run in tandem.
Highlighting the challenge of securing the coast, police said they had
arrested a suspected militant in Kwale, south of Mombasa, with a grenade and
78 rounds of ammunition. Police said an accomplice they had also been
trailing escaped.
Kenyan police imposed a curfew from Sunday evening on Lamu County, the
region north of Mombasa where most of the recent spate of attacks took
place, including Mpeketoni.
Residents were told to be indoors between 6.30 p.m. and 6.30 a.m. but this
was amended on Monday to allow Muslims to continue their usual prayer
schedule after sunset in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Many of
Kenya's Muslims live on the coast. (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Tom
Heneghan)