Kenyans will be waking up to shock news that an apparent grenade attack on a local bar in Nairobi has left at least 14 injured, some of them seriously. The attack occurred around 3 a.m. when the bar was already โclosedโ but patrons inside continued to drink. Because of the recently-passed Kenyan controversial law, which prohibits โafter hour drinking,โ private club and bar owners have resorted to โprivate parties to circumvent arrests, closures and license forfeitures.
While at this time of the night no one was available to issue any official comment, a great deal of open speculation occurred on Twitter and other social media over both the motive and the perpetrators of the attack.
Al Shabab, Somaliaโs best known Islamist terror and militant group, had threatened reprisals and revenge attacks in Kenya following the TGF sanctioned cross border operation by the Kenyan army, navy and air force, and while security was visibly stepped up in major hotels, resorts, businesses, office buildings and restaurants, some of the smaller local establishments may have been slow in following recommendations by Kenyaโs security officials on how to improve safety. Last weekend had the US Embassy warned their citizens of an โimminent and credible terror threatโ in Kenya, but the way these news were broken left โofficial Kenyaโ upset over the format, though government was not denying that increased vigilance and surveillance was needed to prevent any incident.
Some of the sketchy reports from Nairobi suggest that someone who tried to enter the bar and was not allowed in, threw the grenade inside before fleeing the scene. It is presently unknown if this was a simple criminal attack, based on business rivalries as has been the case before ,or a terror attack carried out by Al Shabab sympathizers, although the haphazard way it was carried out could suggest that it was not done by a โtrained terrorist.โ Watch this space for updates.