At Least Four Are Killed in Kenya Van Explosion

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/world/africa/at-least-four-are-killed-in-kenya-van-explosion.html

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NAIROBI, Kenya — At least four people were killed Saturday when a bomb exploded inside a passenger van in Nairobi, the city police said, in what appears to be the first attack here in the Kenyan capital since a deadly terrorist assault on an upscale shopping mall in September.

The explosion took place as the minibus was traveling from the Eastleigh neighborhood to the city center, said Benson Kibue, the chief of police in Nairobi. Investigators believe that a homemade bomb was used in the attack, which injured at least 25 others, he said.

Sometimes called Little Mogadishu, Eastleigh is known for its large population of ethnic Somalis. The neighborhood came under fresh scrutiny by investigators after the Sept. 21 attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, a bloody four-day siege in which at least 67 people were killed. A Western official familiar with the Westgate attack investigation told The Associated Press last month that all four attackers were ethnic Somalis who had spent time in Eastleigh. The official confirmed that all four gunmen arrived in Kenya in June and had frequented a gym in the neighborhood.

Kenya has been the scene of multiple terrorist attacks since the country sent its soldiers to Somalia in 2011 to fight the Shabab, an extremist Somali militant group.

The Shabab claimed responsibility for the Westgate attack, saying it was in retribution for Kenya’s involvement in Somalia. The group, which is linked to Al Qaeda, had threatened large-scale attacks for years, and it has said more will be carried out unless Kenya withdraws.

Kenya has been grappling with its large population of Somali refugees since the Westgate attack, with government officials announcing plans to speed up their return home. Nearly 500,000 Somali refugees live in Kenya, most of them in the sprawling Dadaab refugee settlement near the Somali border. In the last several years, Somali refugee camps, particularly Dadaab, have been hit by a spate of blasts by grenades and other explosives.

Last month, Kenya, Somalia and the United Nations refugee agency signed an agreement saying the 475,000 registered Somali refugees inside Kenya would receive support when they returned to their homeland — if they chose to return.