Kenyans caught with suspected bomb at Garden City Mall

A man has been arrested for attempting to bring explosives into a mall in Nairobi, according to local Kenyan media.

Nairobi’s Garden City Mall said in a statement Tuesday that the man was arrested after acting suspiciously and later two sniffer dogs confirmed the small hand-held device he carried had explosive material.

The Garden City Mall in Kenya’s capital was evacuated on Tuesday after security guards stopped the potential attackers from going into the upscale shopping mall.

Police spokesman George Kinoti told the BBC that the three men in custody were all Kenyans and the explosives were discovered in one of their bags.

He said bomb experts were later called in and successfully detonated devices which could have caused a lot of damage.

Unit of officers from bomb disposal had securely detonated the device, he said, disclosing that investigators are inspecting whether the suspects have a place with any known extremist groups.

The Nairobi mall, which opened earlier this year, claims to be East Africa’s largest shopping centre.

Kenyan security forces have been on alert since a siege at another Nairobi mall in 2013 by al-Shabab militants killed 67 people.

Al-Shabab has since launched a number of high-profile attacks, including one in April on a university in the north-eastern town of Garissa in which close to 150 people died.