Kenya vows to hunt down al-Shabaab rebels

Kenya promised yesterday to hunt down Somalia-based al-Shabaab rebels following two blasts that killed one person and injured 31 in the coastal city of Mombasa.

Al-Shabaab has staged attacks in Kenya since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia last October to pursue the group. However, Saturday’s blasts were the first to target Mombasa, one of Kenya’s top tourist destinations, and were staged just before the busy Easter tourist season.

“We will not tire of hunting for these people until we finish them. They have ruined their country and now they have come here to ruin Kenya’s economy,” internal security minister George Saitoti said while visiting the scenes of the explosions.

Regional police commander Aggrey Adoli said: “Investigations are going on. Al-Shabaab is among those being investigated.”

Prime minister Raila Odinga, who accompanied Mr Saitoti, tried to reassure foreign visitors after the explosions. The bomb victims were all Kenyans.

He said: “Kenya is safe. No-one should threaten tourists. They should continue coming to Kenya and the government will protect them.”

Al-Shabaab issued a statement that fell short of claiming responsibility for the attacks, saying Kenya’s security depended on its military activities in Somalia.

“The more Kenyan troops continue to persecute innocent Muslims of Somalia, the less secure Kenyan cities will be; and the more oppression the Muslims of Somalia feel, the more constricted Kenyan life will be,” it said.

The Kenyan military moved into south Somalia after two attacks on tourists in resorts on its northern coast.

Saturday’s attacks created fears that tourism, one of the nation’s big three hard currency earners, coul be hit by cancellations.