Kenya church attack: Two more die in Mombasa

• 24 March 2014
 BBC 
• From the section Africa

Two more people have died after Sunday's attack on a church near the Kenyan port of Mombasa, officials say, meaning six people have now died.

Witnesses say more people are seriously wounded after at least two gunmen burst into the church in Likoni and started shooting indiscriminately.

The attackers managed to escape on foot before police arrived.

No group has said it carried out the raid, but officials have blamed Somali Islamist militants for similar attacks.

The al-Qaeda group al-Shabab has carried out several attacks in Kenya since 2011, when Kenya sent troops into Somalia to battle it.

Last year, at least 67 people were killed after al-Shabab militants took control of the Westgate shopping mall in the capital Nairobi for four days.

"Two more victims succumbed last [Sunday] night, we still have 15 others admitted in hospital," local ministry of health chief Khadija Shikely said.

The AFP news reports that some of the wounded are children.

"They were ordinary looking guys, one of them tall, dark and wearing a long-sleeved shirt. They walked casually as if all was OK," eyewitness Peter Muasya was quoted as saying by Reuters. 

"Then they started shooting at those of us who were standing outside."

Blood-soaked Bibles and overturned chairs lay strewn across the church's floor after the shooting.

Security has been stepped up in the area in recent days following the arrest of two men last week who police said had bombs hidden in their car. 

There have been several incidents of violence in Mombasa in recent months, involving the security forces and Islamist extremists.