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Khalil Senosi / AP
Kenya Police spokesman View Eric Kimathi displays seized arms and ammunition to journalists in Nairobi, Kenya, Friday.
NAIROBI -- Kenyan police seized a cache of explosive-laden vests, grenades and automatic rifles in an overnight raid on a Nairobi apartment Friday, thwarting an imminent attack by Somali Islamist militants, a senior police official said.
East Africa's biggest economy has been on a heightened state of security since Nairobi sent troops into Somalia to crush al-Qaida-linked insurgent group al-Shabab, which carried out a double suicide bombing in neighboring Uganda in 2010.
Western embassies in Kenya have warned of potential attacks several times in the last nine months.
"Obviously these are al-Shabaab items. This is a very organized team that is ready to cause big problems in the country," Moses Ombati, Nairobi's deputy police chief, told reporters at the apartment where the weapons were seized.
"They were about to start executing their mission," he said.
Acting on a tip-off, officers from the Crime Prevention Unit raided an apartment in the capital's Eastleigh district, dubbed "Little Mogadishu" because of its large ethnic Somali population, and arrested two men.
Bombs ready for use
As the dawn call to prayer rang out from nearby mosques, police displayed the six suicide bomber vests, 12 grenades and four AK-47s with more than a dozen loaded magazines.
Wiring could be seen protruding from wrapped-up bundles stuffed into the vests. Police said the neatly arranged packages contained explosives and were ready to be used. They also seized several mobile phone they said would likely have been used to trigger the bombs.
The South African politician blamed for inflaming the miners' strikes there told NBC News that the treatment of the poor is worse now than it was under apartheid. Julius Malema, - expelled from the ruling African National Congress for his radical views - says he wants to spread the chaos, that left 34 miners dead. NBC's Rohit Kachroo reports.
The Kampala bombings that killed 79 soccer fans watching the World Cup final were al-Shabaab's first on foreign soil and highlighted both their intent and capability to strike beyond Somalia's borders.
Al-Shabaab has threatened to bring down skyscrapers in the Kenyan capital. Counter-terror experts have doubted their ability to wage such a large-scale strike, but say they would have the capacity to attack soft targets such as bars and hotels.
"We believe they were intending to attack (sites) where there are big crowds, such as super markets, bars, churches and bus stations," Ombati said.
Kenya has been dogged over the last year by a wave of explosions and gun attacks blamed on al-Shabaab and their sympathizers in Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and towns along its porous border with Somalia.
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Outstanding job and congratulations to the Kenyan authorities; keep up the great work!!!!
Very beautiful country, really friendly people.
My family and I have been there a couple times and I tell you folks, Rio de Janeiro dont have nothing on this place. The safaris and the beaches are probably the best in the world...
For most of us who have been to Kenya, I hope terrorists dont turn it into another crazy place like its neighbors....there is no better place to spend a hard earned vacation folks.... the kids loved it
The influx of foreigners from terrorist countries and lux immigration laws are probably the root cause of all this...they need to tighten their borders and clean up places in the country where trouble could arise....
"I just love the aroma of suicide bombers. It smells like... Arab Spring."
---- Barack Hussein Obama
Kenya has allowed Somalis to immigrate to their country and this is the result, in our own country we have also allowed immigration from areas of the world that hate us. These peoples dont integrate with us, there is no melting pot so all we are doing is recreating home grown terrorists. Its not today Im worried about its 20 yrs later Im worried about when every immigrant family has 8 children and their children have another 8. Look at Europe and see how well Pakistan's are integrating with the British.
Our legistlators are a bunch of crooked dingbats in AMerica and the rest of the christian world is finding that out. You import a religeon that wants christians dead. People act like this is race war. No, its a religeous war. Their religeon wants you dead. Period. What part of that do these guys not understand. Hillary, obama, bush ..all of them..... IF you import them, they go to the local mosque for bombing lessons not assimilation into society. Their child molesting, wife beating, drunk prophet demands it. This guy wasn't preaching peace and love as brothers. He was preaching to string anyone up that isn't them.
This needs more media attention. People need to wake up and smell the threats.
Why is the world so blind to this. Everyone knows where these terrorists are. Join together and destroy them now, anyway that's possible. I know it sounds simplistic, but I'm tired of seeing these extremist continue to do what they want to innocent people.
nbc is not telling you the whole truth and you guys are ignorant, shame.
Could you please tell us where to find this "Truth" you speak of?
I like my truth like I like my cocaine, uncut...
Thanks Goodness nothing happened in the country of birth of the US "President"
Any way you cut that it would still make him better than you, yes?
Either he is a foreigner that pulled off the con of the century or he is the president?
What's on your resume?
Just couldn't resist could you? Seems to me that you placed quote marks around the wrong word.
The US State Department brought in tens of thousands of Somalis to the US at American tax payers expense. Just wait, they will start acting just like these terrorists and their pirate cousins.
Kenya is nice. Been that way ever since their favorite son left and got his big job over here. That was probably some of his relatives with a little less intitative trying to make their mark on the world. Mark...get it? Well, greasy spot anyway.
"I just love the aroma of suicide bombers. It smells like... Arab Spring."
---Barack Hussein Obama
Oh. It is lunch time and the kids got some free time on their hands.
No wonder you've lost your country.
Actually, Bad Animal, it was a bit of parody...you see Barack Obama told us all last year that self-rule would make the people of the Middle East love us even more! You see, Obama DID BUILD THIS MESS!!
Rick ~ Kenya is not in the Middle East. Nice display of ignorance.
Since they have found this, I wonder if they could go find Barry's birth certificate also?