20100716
africanews

Kenyan police detained more than 100 illegal Somalis in a raid a mainly Somali suburb of the capital Nairobi, officials said on Friday.

The sweep follows the deadly blast attacks in neighbouring Uganda that killed at least 74 people. But Kenyan police officers rejected that the raid is linked to the Kampala attacks.

"We arrested 102 Somalis last night and the crackdown is going on," said Nairobi province police officer Anthony Kibuchi.

He said that the crackdown will be carried out in all the estates.

"We will continue. It is not something we are going to stop any time soon," he added. Those detained will be put before the court on Friday.

Two Nairobi districts, one of which is having large numbers of Somali refugees were targeted in Thursday night’s raid.

Eastleigh is known locally as "Little Mogadishu" because it is home to a large ethnic Somali population.

At least 30 Ethiopian were also arrested during the swoop in Nairobi on Wednesday night.