Hand grenade attack on Kenya police kills two

Two men were killed andtwo people were badly wounded when a man arrested by Kenyanpolice set off a hand grenade in the Indian…

Two men were killed andtwo people were badly wounded when a man arrested by Kenyanpolice set off a hand grenade in the Indian Ocean port city ofMombasa today, a medical official said.

"There are two deaths, both of them male," provincialmedical officer Mr Shahnaaz Sharif told reporters, adding a man and awoman had been badly injured.

Senior police officer Mr Gerald Wanjama told reporters the manwas seated in the back of a police van carrying him to a policestation when he detonated an explosive device concealed on hisbody.

Mombasa was the scene of a suicide bomb attack on anIsraeli-owned hotel last November in which at least 16 peoplewere killed, including the three bombers. Osama bin Laden's alQaeda group claimed responsibility for the attack.

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The United States believes al Qaeda was also responsible forthe 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi in which morethan 200 people were killed.

Kenyan police have carried out extensive arrests in Mombasaand Nairobi to tighten security in the wake of the Novemberbombing.

Mr Wanjama said today's raid targeted five men occupying ahouse in Mombasa, but four of them managed to escape arrest.