Six dead in Nairobi grenade attack

Fourth terrorist attack in Kenya in recent days

Six people were killed and 30 injured following a grenade attack on a minibus in north-east Nairobi on the evening of 14 December.

The blast on the 32-seater bus occured in Eastleigh, a suburb with a large Somali population, and police suspect that the Somali-based al-Shabaab group was behind the assault. The militants have links with al-Qaeda and were responsible for the terrorist attack at the capital's Westgate shopping mall in late September, in which at least 72 were killed.

The Eastleigh explosion came two days after Kenya celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence on 12 December. There have been four such terrorist attacks in Kenya since 10 December, mainly in the north-east of the country near the border of neighbouring Somalia, resulting in the deaths of 15 people.

The al-Shabaab militants say their attacks on Kenyan soil are in retribution for Kenya's ongoing military intervention in Somalia. Kenyan troops have been deployed in Somalia for the last two years as part of efforts by the UN-backed government to oust al-Shebaab insurgents.