Police knocked on the door in the middle of the night, giving whoever was inside a chance to open it. But the anti-terrorism squad had come prepared for a raid.
When the militant suspect inside refused to let them in, the officers broke down the door - and were met by a grenade flying straight at them.
The blast injured three officers and killed a suspected criminal who had led them to the home in Mombasa, Kenya's second-largest city and a popular tourist destination. Police had arrested the suspect earlier, and got him to take them to what he said was a home containing an illegal weapons cache, according to regional police chief Aggrey Adoli.
As the grenade exploded, police began shooting into the doorway, killing the suspected militant who had hurled the explosive at them.
As he fell, he dropped a second grenade he'd been holding. That blast injured five policemen - one of whom who later died due to his injuries.
Inside the house, police recovered two more grenades, a pistol, and 15 rounds of ammunition, Adoli said.
The suspects - both the one who took police to the home and the one who pitched the grenade at them - had no identity cards, Adoli said. "We cannot rule out that they are enemies from Al-Shabaab who were planning an attack following the fall of Kismayo” in neighboring Somalia, he added.
The al Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab is trying to overthrow the Somali government, and has also been blamed for violence in Kenya.
time for jomo to rise
This article headline is extremely misleading. I thought tourists had been attacked... shame on you for sensationalist reporting.
If this was in San Francisco or Madrid, would you have added the word "tourist"?
No, they would have replaced "tourist" with "hippy."
Mike, Thanks for posting. Mombasa is known for being Kenya's second-largest city and a popular tourist destination. That's why we wrote it that way. Thanks for commenting and sharing your opinion.
Not only does Mombasa attract lots of Brit and Continental (mainly German/Italian/Swiss) tourists, it used to be quite common for US Navy ships to dock in the deepwater port there. So there used to be lots of American sailors on shore leave periodically as well, though I'm not sure if that still happens. Look up Mombasa beaches on google images – it will become apparent why it's popular with tourists.
This event actually shows that they are trying to crack down on extremists.
BTW, I think there's a mistake in the 5th para – "one of whom who later died due to his injuries".
What a sensationalist and misleading headline, positioned to scare tourists or what?
its really misleading CNN wake & be real
Nothing misleading about it; it caught your eye and you read the story, which is what the headline is designed to do.
I read very clearly, "tourist CITY".
Getting rather tired of reading these kinds of stories, though.
I am glad to live where I live.
CNN should not have put the word tourist in the headline. It seems like it was intended to capture attention but it is also scary to tourists and that is not good for the country.
If you we're at all mislead by the headlines then that's enough said.. It plainly stated three dead in Kenya tourist city. If tourists had been killed headlines would have read as follows "Three tourists killed in Kenya" or to the effect...reading requires great comprehension skills.......
15 Rounds isn't a weapons cache, it's one magazine
no one cares about these people > ESPECIALLY "Americans".... only the beaches of oil.... guess that means they could care less about you worldwide... eh?
How many little girls hurt by ARMY thugs all over the world on a daily basis? Wanna count? Good luck getting those statistics.
Come on people! Please don't go to those High-Risk and life-threatning places like Kenya, Maldives, or thos Muslim countries. There are plenty of beautiful beaches, temples, ruins, colonial towns, resorts, in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. We welcome you with open arms, and respect you.
Please don't tell us where to spend our free time. I'm sure these people go to Kenya or wherever the go and mostly have a great time and find enough people in those countries that respectthem just fine.