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Grenades hurt 8 in Wajir, Dadaab

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 27 – At least eight people were wounded in separate grenade attacks at the Dadaab refugee camp and Wajir town on Saturday night, police said.

According to police, five people were wounded when a grenade was hurled at them at a construction site at the Ifo II camp within Dadaab.

The second attack occurred in a restaurant in Wajir town where three people were wounded.

“We had these two incidents, eight people were wounded and taken to hospital,” North Eastern Provincial Police chief Leo Nyongesa said.

At the Ifo camp, those attacked were constructing a school when the grenade was hurled at them, while in the second one, the three people wounded were in a restaurant.

“No arrests have been made but an investigation is underway,” Nyongesa said.

A senior police officer in the region has told Capital FM News the attacks are blamed on members of the Al Shabaab or their sympathizers who have lately targeted security forces and locals.

“We have every reason to believe it is Al Shabaab who are behind these incidents, we are concerned at the sustained war they are waging and that is why we have increased our surveillance here,” the officer speaking on condition of anonymity from Garissa said.

Cases of grenade and other explosive devises’ attacks have been experienced in Northern Kenya, Nairobi and Mombasa since last year.

Two weeks ago, an Administration Police officer was killed when their vehicle was blown up by a land mine in Dadaab leaving three other officers seriously wounded.

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The incident was followed by a deadly one in Mombasa where attackers believed to be linked to Al Shabaab hurled three grenades outside a restaurant, killing a security guard. Six other people, including one of the attackers were also wounded in the attack.

The attacker who was later identified as one of the notorious criminals who had been wanted for a series of other attacks. Police have said the man who hails from Kibera slum, Nairobi will be arraigned in court to face charges once out of hospital.
Most recently last Monday, four soldiers were wounded when their truck was blown up by a landmine in Mandera, just five kilometers from the Somalia border.

The soldiers were transporting water to a military camp nearby when the incident occurred.

Kenyan security forces have lately stepped up surveillance on Al Shabaab and their associates, with the recent deployment of Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) and Anti Terrorism officers to target areas.

“We are on high alert, we have thwarted many attacks,” a senior police officer at Vigilance House said.

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