Kenya: One killed in grenade attack on Mombasa nightclub

One person has died and five others have been injured after gunmen threw explosives into a popular nightclub in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.

Regional police chief Aggrey Adoli told the Agence France Presse that armed men tried to enter the Bella Vista club on Tuesday, and after refusing to be searched by security staff opened fire and hurled grenades into the venue, wounding a female guard who later died in hospital.

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The Bella Vista is located on a street known for its nightlife, and is a popular destination for tourists. According to Reuters, a pool of blood marked the entrance to the club, while spent cartridges and grenade shells were strewn near its gate. Nearby cars were riddle with shrapnel marks.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but several hit-and-run grenade attacks have taken place in recent months in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and in the north of the country, according to the BBC.

The authorities often blame such attacks on Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab rebels from neighboring Somalia. Kenya sent hundreds of soldiers into the country last year after a wave of kidnappings on Kenyan soil. 

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