Killing of Pakistani journalist in Kenya was ‘targeted’ attack, minister says
Kenyan security guard and British citizen Ahmed Hassan Darwish was targeted in a ‘well-planned’ attack on a vehicle in Mombasa’s central business district.
Shocked residents were seen running for their lives, screaming in the streets as armed men with rifles and helmets walked through the packed streets of busy business areas of Mombasa.
Police said the attack took place late on Tuesday (August 28) when it was about 2:45am and Darwish was driving his car with a female passenger, who did not require medical attention.
“It has not been confirmed yet what specifically motivated the attack. We will investigate further and take further action if required,” Mombasa police spokesperson Moses Wanjiru told journalists.
Police, however, said they did not hold Darwish responsible for the attack, and that they were not looking for any connections between his death and previous attacks in his area.
“From what we have been told, the victim was just on his way to work when he was stopped by a group of men who blocked his car and took his keys and later on that same week, he was killed,” Inspector Wafula Chebukati told AFP.
The journalist had arrived from neighbouring Egypt where he worked for al-Jazeera, where he was a reporter for Channel One.
“We know no specific reason was for the attack. It was not premeditated,” Wanjiru said.
The victim’s work had not been affected by the attack, said Nairobi-based journalist Mohammed Salim.
“He did not work today. The police told us that they did not know him personally, and it is not their job to know who went to work or did not. That is not their job to do.”
Mombasa, which is home to around 3.5 million people, is one of Kenya’s biggest cities.
Kenya already has some of the world’s highest murder rates and the journalist is one of 20 people killed in Kenya in 2015 in a terrorist attack.
Two people were killed by suspected Islamists last month in the western city of Nairobi, and Kenya has been on high alert for an attack of its own.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has accused his predecessor of failing to protect the country’s