Police pursue possible threat to live TV show in Pangani blast

By CYRUS OMBATI

Nairobi, Kenya: Police have arrested the owner of a car that exploded in Pangani, Nairobi County on Wednesday night, killing police officers and two suspected terrorists.

The two officers killed in the terror blast were police constables Francis Murage and Samuel Cheptuk of Starehe Division.

The white Toyota NZE was registered to Ahmed Dugal Ali in 2000, according to records at the Kenya Revenue Authority.

Thursday’s arrest came as detectives sought to establish the real targets of the terrorists. One possibility police are pursuing is that suspects planned to drive the bomb-rigged car to the location where KTN television’s Jeff Koinange Live show was airing on 12th Street in the city’s Eastleigh area.

Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo, former National Assembly deputy Speaker Farah Maalim and Kamkunji MP Yusuf Hassan, a victim of a previous terrorist attack, had been scheduled to appear on the show.  The subject of discussion in Wednesday night’s episode of the show was terrorism and the ongoing police crackdown.

“It is one of the theories on the destination of the explosives and the suicide bombers. There could be others,” said a senior officer aware of the probe and who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to discuss investigation details.

Reports of the attack filtered through to the production location about 4km from the blast scene before the show began. KTN was among the first television stations to air footage of the blast.

The show later went on without the three guests after the host, Jeff Koinange, brought in others and interviewed them under heavy security. The Standard established that security chiefs in the city had opposed Kimaiyo’s visit to Eastleigh for the show on security grounds.

The police chief had been at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where he welcomed President Uhuru Kenyatta who was arriving from Qatar when the news broke.

Another theory police are following is that the terrorists intended to blow up the car at a police station. The terrorists were said to have blatantly violated traffic rules near a police checkpoint in order to lure the officers to arrest and direct them to a police station.

Police officers stopped the car after the driver made a U-turn and drove on the wrong side.

But Kimaiyo, who was among the first people to arrive at the scene, said Thursday they are yet to determine the destination and source of the blast. Kimaiyo said the slain officers were part of a team patrolling near the police station on routine security checks.

“The occupants were flagged down and questioned about flouting traffic rules but they did not give a satisfactory response,” said Kimaiyo.

He said the officers boarded the car forcefully after the two occupants tried to drive off. The officers decided to take them to Pangani Police Station for further interrogation.

FBI officials

However, they did not suspect a car bomb and hence did not inspect the vehicle. Other officers in a patrol car followed the impounded vehicle, added Kimaiyo.

Kimaiyo said on reaching the gate of the police station, one of the suspects detonated the explosive, which had been mounted in the boot of the car. He added that one of the terrorists – the one believed to have set off the explosive – was seated on the back left side of the car, having refused to move when asked to do so by the police officers who stopped them.

 “Unfortunately, the car exploded killing all the occupants. I want to assure Kenyans that the war against terrorism is still on. We cannot be cowed by such heinous acts and I declare war against any acts of crime in the country,” Kimaiyo said.

Car parts were ripped off and mangled in the explosion, and police had to cut through the wreckage to retrieve the bodies of their colleagues. Officers in the escort car were unharmed. The car, however, suffered a dented windscreen.

“I appreciate their (police officers’) efforts; had they not intercepted the vehicle, the IED could have caused huge damage,” Kimaiyo said.

The IG, who ordered the scene sealed off as soon as he arrived, said police were working on identifying the two men. “We recovered documents from the car which we believe will help us identify them,” he said.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku also visited the scene under tight security.

Meanwhile, international forensic experts have joined the probe into the attack. Four FBI officials from the US Embassy in Nairobi accompanied by Kenyan detectives combed the scene collecting debris, which they said would help them establish the origin and nature of the explosives used.

The experts later said Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) caused the blast. It is not clear where they were assembled but indications were that they were made using TNT.

The blast was heard several kilometres away. Some residents of Parklands and Ngara said they heard it. “I felt like I was flying when it went off,” said John Kirui, an area resident.

There was panic at the scene when another explosion went off as officials briefed the media. It later emerged that police officers detonated a grenade found in the car, hence the second blast.

There was added panic in the area yesterday when a car was found abandoned along Cross Road. Police later said it might have been used to transport bomb-making materials before the occupants abandoned it on Wednesday evening.

The registration plates mounted on the vehicle did not match official KRA records, the Nairobi deputy police boss said.

The car was later towed to the police station after a robot screened it and confirmed there were no explosives inside.