Explosions hit Mombasa

One of the blasts happened at a busy market and bus station in the port city known as Mwembe Tayari. A device went off inside a minibus killing three people according to witnesses and local media.

The second explosion was heard at the Reef Hotel down the coast. No casualties were reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Kenya has been hit by gun and grenade attacks in both Mombasa and in the capital, Nairobi, which the largely Christian government has blamed on the al Qaeda-linked Somali group al-Shabab.

The Kenyan coast area has a significant, minority Muslim population. Many of them feel marginalized by the Nairobi government and some have been recruited by Islamist militants. There have been clashes this year between demonstrators and Kenyan police (photo).

In 2011 Kenya sent troops to Somalia to fight al-Shabab fighters. They in return have vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Kenyan soil.

Somalia blast

Earlier on Saturday, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the killing of six people in a car bombing in Mogadishu in Somalia.

Abdikafi Hilowle Osman, a former member's of Mogadishu's local government, and three of his escorts were killed when a bomb concealed in their car exploded at a busy junction, authorities said. Two civilians were also killed in the blast: "It was a powerful explosion that totally destroyed the victims' car," according to a local security officer.

jm/ccp (AP, Reuters)