Two militant suspects killed in police raid on Kenyan coast

Kenyan police shot dead a Muslim cleric suspected of ties to Somalia's al Shabaab militants in the city of Mombasa on Sunday, the latest in a string of raids against alleged sympathisers of the Islamist militants along the east African coast.                     

Local residents said gunfire erupted in the early hours when police broke into Omar Faraj's house in the city's rundown Majengo district, the same area where the radical preacher Aboud Rogo, shot dead in August by unknown gunmen, held sermons.                  

Riot police patrolled Majengo's garbage-clogged streets and tensions ran high in the morning, raising fears of a repeat of the deadly rioting that broke out after Rogo's killing.                    

Police said a man arrested on Saturday carrying grenades on a bus to Mombasa had led them to Faraj's house. He was also killed by gunfire during the raid, police said, without explaining the exact circumstances.                                

Neighbors said they collected dozens of spent bullet cartridges and tear gas canisters.    


REUTERS