Panic swept Likoni in Mombasa Wednesday morning after reports emerged that armed militiamen had invaded the area.

Police officials denied reports of a militia invasion but still deployed dozens of armed General Service Unit, regular and Administration Police officers to patrol streets as anxious residents closed down shops and withdrew children from school fearing violence.

Tension was heightened by the discovery of a hand grenade outside a block of flats. It was detonated by a bomb disposal squad from the nearby Kenya Navy base at Mtongwe. Independent reports suggest the grenade was hurled by unknown attackers mid-morning yesterday.

Police said the grenade was a M77 and was recovered outside bloc LF5.

Likoni has been on edge since Sunday's killing of four people, including 11-year-old Diana Achieng, by armed men who walked into Soweto area, a kilometre from Likoni police station, and walked away towards the flat where the grenade was discovered yesterday.

Twelve people were shot and injured in Sunday's attack. On Monday, two people were shot dead when gunmen invaded a bar in Majengo area.

Yesterday, police admitted no one had been arrested over Sunday's attack, contrary to claims by Mombasa County Commissioner Nelson Marwa and police commander Robert Kitur that eight suspects were detained over the murders.

Schools in Likoni remained closed yesterday over fear of more attacks, with parents scrambling to pick their children from institutions that were still operational.

Naval soldiers from the Mtongwe base were in full gear and patrolled the area as tension went to fever pitch. Some residents are reported to have fled to safer estates.

"We have not arrested anyone in connection with the attacks but we have good leads," area OCPD Robert Murithi told The Standard.

On Monday, many residents from Soweto moved to Likoni Flats, a relatively open and safe area, for fear of attacks or harassment from security agents who have since launched an operation to flush out assailants believed to have melted into the general population after Sunday night's attack.

Murithi said residents claimed to have seen "armed people roaming the area" whom they claimed were involved in Sunday's attacks.

Mary Okello, a resident, said her neighbour accidentally stumbled on the grenade, which was placed outside the entrance "but thank God it did not detonate".