Two Christians killed in grenade attack on open-air meeting in Kenya

Two Christians were killed and around 50 wounded when Muslims threw a grenade into an open-air Christian gathering in Kenya.

The attack took place near the coastal city of Mombasa CC BY-SA 2.0 / henribergius

The attack took place on 31 March in Mtwapa, near Mombasa, as the meeting involving over 150 Christians was drawing to a close.

One woman was killed at the scene; a young boy died from his injuries two days later.

Kenyan pastor the Rev. Simon Kirariuki Kimami said:

Three people who were sitting in a parked car near the site of the event threw a grenade and drove away. Then I heard a blast and saw some women down, crying for help.

Muslims had been holding a meeting near the Christian gathering; the Christians could hear from their venue the Islamic preachers railing against Christianity before the attack took place.

A few minutes after the bombing, a grenade was hurled into a bar in Mombasa.

Kenyan officials suspect that the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab was behind the attacks, although nobody has claimed responsibility for them. The militants, who control most of southern Somalia, have been waging violence in Kenya after the government sent troops into neighbouring Somalia to fight al-Shabaab.

A Barnabas Aid contact in Kenya said that there has been a concerted Muslim backlash against conversions from Islam to Christianity. They have ordered a church in south Kenya to close down within six months.

Barnabas Aid is providing practical support for Christian converts from Islam in Kenya who are suffering as a result of persecution. One of them is a woman whose husband was killed by Muslims after the couple left Islam to follow Christ. We provided her with funds to start up a small business to support her children.