20110425
reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan police are hunting three individuals they suspect of planning to carry out suicide bombings, including two known to have received training in neighbouring Somalia, a haven for hardline Islamist militants.

Twice hit by al Qaeda attacks, Kenya is wary of the lawless Horn of Africa nation and is among countries in the region supporting the fight against the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels.

"There are three suicide bombers. Two are Kenyan and known to have been trained in Somalia and are now back in Kenya while the nationality of the other one is unknown," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told Reuters on Wednesday.

He gave no further details.

Kenya issued a warning last week that al Shabaab insurgents planned to strike heavily populated areas of the east African country over the Easter holidays.

No attack occurred.

Kiraithe said it was feared the would-be bombers might target a nationwide police recruitment exercise.

Al Shabaab have waged a four-year insurgency against Somalia's embattled government and last year hit Uganda with a twin suicide-bomb attack, their first ever on foreign soil.