MOMBASA (AFP) – A prominent Kenyan businessman was shot dead in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa late Friday, police and eyewitnesses said.

The murder of transport magnate Shahid Bhat, which occurred along a road near Mombasa’s airport, comes amid mounting insecurity in the coastal region.

“The gunmen shot at him as he was driving along the road, and as they escaped they shot at another pick-up vehicle, wounding a child,” Mombasa county police commander Robert Kitur told AFP.

Bhat was the owner of a bus and transport company that runs a fleet of buses across East Africa. Police said the motive of the attack was unclear.

Several Western nations have recently urged their nationals to avoid all but essential travel to the coastal city, the scene of a string of recent bombings and shootings blamed on Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.