Kenya church attacks kill 16

DHAKA: Sixteen people have been killed in attacks on churches in the Kenyan town of Garissa near Somalia, say the Kenyan Red Cross and a medical official.

Regional deputy police chief Philip Ndolo said balaclava-clad ‘goons’ attacked the town’s Catholic church and the African Inland Church (AIC).

A combination of grenades and gunfire was used, police said, reports BBC.

Kenya’s border region has been tense since it sent troops into Somalia to pursue al-Shabab Islamic militants.

Kenya said the operations, launched last October, were designed to bring an end to kidnappings on Kenyan soil and other violence which it blamed on al-Shabab.

But since then, al-Shabab has been blamed for a further string of grenade and bomb blasts across Kenya - though it has never admitted to carrying out any such attack on Kenyan territory.

No group has yet said it carried out these latest attacks, but the finger of blame will once again undoubtedly be pointed at al-Shabab or sympathisers, says the BBC in Nairobi.

‘We condemn this act in the strongest terms possible’, Ndolo said.

The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims also condemned Sunday’s church attacks, saying that ‘all places of worship must be respected’.

BDST: 1959 HRS, JUL 1, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor