NAIROBI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Suspected robbers shot dead an Australian woman in Nairobi on Thursday after she defied orders to surrender her mobile phone to suspected thugs in Nairobi's leafy Karen.
Karen Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Cunningham Suiyanka said the woman was walking along the road when a gang riding on a motorbike stopped in front of her.
"One of the gunmen demanded that she surrenders a mobile phone she had," Suiyanka said, noting that the middle-aged woman resisted the orders prompting the gunmen to shoot her and grabbed the mobile phone.
"They will be caught to serve justice," said the police commander, noting that the gangsters grabbed her mobile phone and some valuables before they sped off on their motorbike.
The Australia woman was rushed to nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Witnesses said the woman had ventured from her home to that of a neighbour when the incident happened at around 11 a.m..
It was not immediately clear what the woman was engaged in Kenya. Suiyanka said police were pursuing good leads on the whereabouts of the gang.
The police commander confirmed the woman was an Australian but refused to divulge more details on her.
Cases of armed robberies have escalated this year across the country. According to testimonies from traders and security guards, crowded streets in downtown Nairobi are the prime target owing to their volatile nature.
The soaring crime wave in the cities and towns has scared investors and experts have warned that if unchecked might reverse economic progress.
Hardly a day has passed without an incident of violent robbery being reported in Nairobi and its environs.
