Twin attacks target Israeli tourists

Twelve people died on Thursday morning in a bomb attack on a Kenyan hotel, just as two missiles narrowly missed a civilian aircraft as it took off from Mombasa airport, news agencies reported. Israeli tourists were widely thought to be targeted in the attacks, which took place at around 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT) on Thursday morning. The Paradise Hotel, located on the Kenya's Indian Ocean coast at Kikambala, some 16 km north of the port city of Mombasa, is frequented mainly by Israeli tourists, and the blast coincided with the arrival at the hotel of a group of Israeli holidaymakers. Three men reportedly drove a four-wheel-drive vehicle into the lobby of the hotel before detonating the bomb, causing extensive damage to the building. At Mombasa airport, an aircraft operated by the Arkia charter company and bound for the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, was fired on shortly after takeoff by two surface-to-air missiles, both of which were reported to have narrowly missed their target. The BBC quoted airline officials as saying the pilots saw two streaks of light on the left side of the aircraft. The plane, carrying about 260 passengers, was able to continue to its destination, and touched down safely at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday afternoon. Those killed in the hotel bomb attack were thought to include six Kenyan hotel employees, three Israeli tourists, and the three suicide bombers, news agencies reported. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem reported that some 17 Israelis were among 80 people wounded in the blast. Israel Radio quoted Kenyan police as saying that two men had been arrested in connection with the attacks, and that they were currently undergoing interrogation. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Islamic radical Usama bin Laden, or "another extremist Islamic group" were suspected of being behind the attacks, the ministry reported. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were attacked in coordinated car bombings that killed 219 and 12 people respectively. The US sentenced four men, whom it accused of having links to Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, to life in prison for their role on the attacks. At least one of the men was a resident of Mombasa, local sources told IRIN.