Two killed in attack on U.S. Embassy car in Kenya

1/287/06

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Gunmen carjacked a U.S. Embassy vehicle on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital Saturday and killed two women in the car, police said.

"The thugs ordered the two women out but they hesitated," said Isaiah Osugo, a criminal investigations officer in Nairobi. "Then they were shot."

Francis Munyambu, Nairobi's deputy provisional police officer, said the carjackers escaped with the embassy vehicle and were armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles. The men had carjacked another vehicle earlier in the day, he said.

The shooting happened just off a highway in Kinoo, about 12 miles outside Nairobi. An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw two pools of blood on the roadside.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi did not immediately answer calls for comment. Police withheld the women's names until next of kin could be notified.

Carjackings are common around Nairobi, but Saturday's attack was unusually brazen because it took place during the day. In September, the chief U.S. military attache was shot and seriously wounded in a carjacking in Nairobi. Russia's ambassador was stabbed in a robbery on August 20. A month earlier, a Danish diplomat was attacked and robbed.

Kenya's government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said officials believe Saturday's violence was "a random attack." He had no further details.