NAIROBI Oct 14 (Reuters) - Two successive blasts in a residential area near
the Kenyan capital's central business district wounded one police officer
late on Friday but did not injure any civilians, police said.
A string of sometimes deadly attacks in Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa
has been blamed on Somali militants and their sympathisers, retaliating for
Kenya's decision to send troops into Somalia last October to drive out the
militants.
The latest blast rocked the Somali-dominated area of Eastleigh, 100 m
(yards) from a church on Nairobi's Juja Road where an explosion on Sept 30
killed a nine-year-old child attending Sunday school.
"We believe the first blast was intended to lure onlookers, members of the
public, and that the second blast was meant to harm them," Kenya Police
spokesman Eric Kiraithe told Reuters.
"One police officer was wounded, but his injuries are not life threatening,"
he added.
Kiraithe said the explosions had targeted a dumping site in a section of the
sprawling working-class district.
The area was cordoned off and lit up with floodlights so bomb experts could
scour it for shrapnel and any unexploded devices.
Kiraithe declined to say what may have caused the blasts, saying he could
only comment after investigations were complete. He also declined to say who
may have been behind the attack.
Local television stations said at least three police officers had been
wounded in the blasts.
Kenyan troops have won control of the southern Somali port city of Kismayu,
the al Shabaab militant group's last major bastion in the Horn of Africa
country, as part of a year-long offensive to drive out the rebels.
Al Shabaab vowed to retaliate when Kenya sent troops into Somalia last
October to crush the al Qaeda-linked group.
