Bombs Rock Kenya Prayer Rally, 6 Killed
By George Whitten, Jerusalem Bureau Chief
JERUSALEM/NAIROBI (Worthy News) — Tensions remained high in Kenya Tuesday, June 15, after two bombs rocked a Christian prayer rally opposing a draft constitution, killing at least six people and injuring at least 100 others.
Sunday’s blasts occurred within minutes apart when a Nairobi bishop was leading several thousand attendees in a closing prayer at the end of the gathering, witnesses said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but a group of churches in Kenya blamed the government for involvement in the attack.
In a statement, the National Council of Churches of Kenya and 14 other churches said, “Having been informed over and over that the passage of the new constitution during the referendum is a government project, we are left in no doubt that the government, either directly or indirectly, had a hand in this attack. Who else in this country holds explosive devices?”
Government officials had no comment.
While the country’s president and prime minister support the draft constitution, Christian groups oppose it. Christians say the proposed constitution eases restrictions on abortion and endorses a system of Islamic courts that is already in use for Kenya’s Muslim minority.