16 killed in Kenya church attacks

Nairobi, July 1 (IANS) At least 16 people, including women, were killed and 40 others injured in twin grenade attacks in northern Kenya, police said Sunday.

The attacks were carried out in the Kenyan town of Garissa near Somalia, Xinhua reported.

The dead included 10 women, five men and one juvenile. They were among worshippers at one of the churches the gunmen attacked, said Phillip Ndolo, a senior police official.

"So far the death toll has risen to 16 and more than 40 have been injured. The injured are being treated at various hospitals," Ndolo said, adding that the gunmen first killed two policemen screening the worshippers.

"The attackers used two guns which they snatched from two police officers to shoot at the worshippers," he said.

Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) secretary-general Abbas Gullet has appealed to Kenyans to donate blood and doctors to come forward to be transported to Garissa, where unidentified gunmen hurled the twin grenades on churches Sunday.