This attack on a bus stop, and a grenade thrown into a nightclub, follow threats from al-Shabaab in response to a Kenyan military operation (rumored to have Western support) in southern Somalia, which was launched after cross-border kidnappings on Kenyan territory.
The U.S. embassy in Nairobi warned Saturday of an “imminent” threat of attacks on Nairobi, but neither of these are al-Shabaab’s main event. The group has increasingly turned to suicide bombings in recent weeks, and these smaller attacks only leave Kenyans to wonder when or if the other shoe is going to drop as the Somali jihadists seek to become “victorious with terror” (Sahih Bukhari 4.52.220).
“Kenya: Second explosion in Nairobi,” from BBC News, October 24:
A blast has gone off at a bus stop in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, killing at least one person, police say.
An earlier grenade attack on a bar in the city wounded 12 people.
The attacks happened two days after the US embassy in Kenya warned that an attack by Islamist militants from neighbouring Somalia was imminent.
But Kenyan Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere said there was no evidence linking the nightclub attack to the militants from the al-Shabab group.
The Kenyan government sent troops to Somalia more than a week ago to pursue the militants after accusing them of being behind a spate of abductions on its territory.
Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda and controls much of southern and central Somalia, denies involvement in the kidnappings but has warned of reprisals if Kenyan troops do not withdraw from Somalia.
There is also the possibility that these acts are copycat attacks, possibly by sympathizers within Kenya who want in on the action.
Police said the explosion on Monday evening occurred at the OTC bus terminal in downtown Nairobi, which is usually a busy part of the city.
Kenya’s Red Cross said on its Twitter feed that eight casualties had been rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital.
In the early hours of Monday morning a man threw a grenade into the Mwauras nightclub and fled the scene, witnesses said. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The BBC’s Will Ross in Nairobi says last December three people died during a grenade attack at a bus in Nairobi. It was never clear who was behind it.
Our correspondent adds that although both attacks were small, they will nevertheless cause a great deal of anxiety in Kenya.