Another victim of Garissa church grenade attacks dies

Xinhua
Thursday, July 12, 2012

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Death toll from the July 1 twin grenade attacks in northern Kenya has risen to 18 after one victim passed on at a Nairobi hospital.

Kenya National Hospital (KNH) said on Wednesday that the victim was among the seven who were airlifted on July 1 for specialized treatment after masked gunmen sprayed bullets and hurled grenades on worships at the Africa Inland Church and Catholic Church in Garissa.

More than 65 people were injured in the attack blamed on Somali militia, Al-Shabaab, who have been abducting foreigners and hurling grenades on people in the northern region.

Following the attack that occurred in Garissa Town on July 1, Kenyatta National Hospital received a total of seven casualties, including three males and four females.

Unfortunately, one of the patients who was receiving care at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) succumbed to serious head injuries on Monday night," KNH said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The four masked gunmen who killed the 18 people first killed two policemen who were screening the worshippers for explosives and weapons as wave of insecurity had rocked the region.

The police had not established where the attackers came from since they hurled grenades and sprayed bullets inside the congregation.

The police said they have picked up one unexploded grenade for analysis but they have so far not released their findings.

The hospital said two patients have already been discharged and the hospital is now attending to four patients who are responding well to treatment.

Kenya has seen several hit-and-run grenade attacks in recent months in the capital Nairobi, and in northern Kenya and Mombasa port city.

The Kenyan authorities often blame such attacks on al Qaida- affiliated Al-Shabaab rebels from neighboring Somalia.

The east African nation launched cross-border incursion into Somalia last October in pursuit of the militants blamed for a series of grenade and landmine attacks in Nairobi, Mombasa and northern region.

The authorities have called on Kenyans to be vigilant over terror attacks because of higher numbers of foreign fighters who sneaked into the country.

Al-Shabaab militants have vowed to attack Nairobi after the east African nation entered Somalia to flush out the insurgents it blamed for kidnappings of tourists.

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