Police kill two suspected terror in Nairobi's Eastleigh area

By CYRUS OMBATI

NAIROBI, KENYA: Two men who were carrying a hand grenade were Wednesday morning shot dead in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area.

Police said they also recovered a pistol that had three bullets from the men in the 5.30 am incident.

According to the police, the suspects are part of a gang that attacked and injured Kamkunji MP Yusuf Hassan with a grenade as he walked out of a mosque last year.

Officers from Anti-mugging squad confronted the men and shot them at close range outside a hotel along 12th Street.

Nairobi County police boss Benson Kibue said they believe the men were on a mission and that investigations have been launched.

“They are young men and we have recovered a hand grenade and a pistol from them. We believe they are part of a larger gang that has been terrorising locals,” said Kibue.

He said they are yet to know if the men were on a terror mission or terrorists given they were found with a grenade.

Eastleigh has been the source of most grenades and guns being used to commit crimes in the city, Kibue said.

Hassan was last December attacked with a grenade outside a mosque in Eastleigh that left his legs fractured. 

He was later flown to South Africa where he was treated and later came back on a wheelchair.

Hassan was among more than 30 people who were injured in the blast on December 7, 2012, which was caused by a grenade that was hurled to him as he walked out. 

Six people were killed in the incident, which sparked violent protests with locals demanding that authorities take action to stop such terror attacks.

Among those injured was the legislator’s bodyguard. 

And following the recovery of the grenade, Nairobi deputy police boss Moses Ombati who visited the scene said they have intensified patrols and operations ahead of the Christmas season.

“We know most of them want to make quick money especially this season but we are ready for them,” he said.