A man used a suicide bomb to kill himself together with his parents in Katito, Nyakach, Kisumu County.
Joseph Odhiambo Ondiek aka Pope went to the homestead of one Petro Onyango and his wife Mary Atieno whom he found seated with their daughter Nancy Aoko and started to question them.
Suddenly, an Improvised Explosive Device that he was carrying went off killing Pope and the couple aged about 55.
The incident happened Tuesday evening.
The couple’s daughter sustained injuries and is admitted in a hospital.
Sources within police said the bomber is a returnee from al-shaabab terrorist group and he used locally made explosive which he had tied around his waist to blast the parents.
On December 17, 2020 Pope tried to kill his 16 year old girlfriend in their rented house at Katito town over alleged infidelity.
According to police, the bomber had made an explosive and left it in the house. It exploded and injured the girlfriend. He then fled the area and police have been on his radar.
The attacker who is a class five dropout is said to have left home more than five years ago for Mombasa where he joined al-shaabab and later came back.
Nyanza police boss Karanja Muiruri said experts are handling the incident which he termed an act of terrorism.
“We are trying to establish where he has been for the past months. This is serious and we are pursuing it,” he said.
The attack shows terror cells are spreading to non traditional regions. The most traditional ones have been Nairobi, Coast, Isiolo, Marsabit, and North Eastern region.
Police authorities say they have set up new bases in western region including Kisumu to address the emerging trend.
Terrorism has been a major threat in Kenya for years. Dozens of people have been killed in separate attacks in the country in the past years.
The most notable one was at the Dusi-d2 complex one in 2019 where 21 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack that was followed by gunmen with explosives.