A car bomb went off in a Mombassa, Kenya hotel popular with Israeli tourists. Apparently three Israelis, three Arab car bombers and seven Kenyans died. At about the same time, one or two portable anti-aircraft missiles were fired at an Israeli airliner taking off from a nearby airport. The missiles did not connect and the aircraft continued on to Israel. Using portable (shoulder fired) anti-aircraft missiles against civilian airliners doesn't work very well. Usually, the small (2-3 pounds of explosives) only damages the rear end of the large jet engines used on such aircraft. Such missiles are much more effective against helicopters and smaller, propeller driven aircraft. Moslem radicals have long operated in East Africa, because that nation has long supported an Arab population in the coastal cities and towns. The Arabs have been in the region for over a thousand years as traders, entrepreneurs and slavers. Islamic militants find it easy to blend into the local Arab community and plan attacks on Western and Israeli targets. This latest attacks is suspected as being the work of an al Qaeda cell, as al Qaeda has operated in Kenya for at least five years.
