Three female attackers killed at Kenyan police station

Kenyan police on Sunday killed three women who attacked a police station in the city of Mombasa in what the police chief called an apparent terror attack.

County police commander Patterson Maelo said the women, dressed in black shawls, entered the county’s police station to lay a complaint about their stolen phones.

“While the officers were questioning them about the particulars of the stolen phone, one of them drew a knife and another threw a petrol bomb at the officers of the report office,” Maelo said. “The station caught fire and the police shot the three and killed them.”

The two injured officers remained in stable condition in a hospital, Maelo said. Response officials put out the fire as heavily armed police sealed off the station. Coast regional commander Nelson Marwa said police recovered two bulletproof jackets and an unused petrol bomb from the deceased attackers.

No group has claimed responsibility, but the east African country has faced numerous attacks from the Somali-based terror group al-Shabaab. The militant group increased its attacks on Kenya after Kenya began to deploy troops to defeat them in Somalia.

One witness, Salma Mohamed, told reporters she went to visit a relative in custody when the attack happened. Mohamed said one of the attackers jumped on the counter and stabbed an officer in the thigh before police shot at her.

“They shouted saying they were al-Shabaab and recited the Arabic slogan ‘Allahu Akbar’ even as police fired bullets at them,” she said. “They did not run. They shouted until bullets felled them down.”

Police officials said they arrested one woman after confirming the suspects stayed in her house the night before the attack. Police also arrested three other people in the house as accomplices.

Al-Shabaab has recruited hundreds of Kenyans to carry out attacks across the country. But the country’s security forces also are concerned about the growing presence of Islamic State (ISIS). Police officials said at least 20 young Kenyans have gone to Libya to join the extremist group. Marwa said officials would boost security efforts in the area as he called on the public to be vigilant for any suspicious activity.