A Mombasa police commander, Henry Ondiek, said the motive behind the killing of Sheik Mohamed Idris was not known. He was shot today as he left a mosque.
Idris is the fourth high-profile Muslim to be killed by unknown gunmen in Mombasa. Sheik Aboud Rogo Mohammed was assassinated in August 2012.
A year later another mosque leader was killed. In April gunmen shot and killed Abubakar Shariff Ahmed, known as Makaburi, near a mosque.
The murders remain unsolved. Human rights activists allege that the government is behind targeted assassinations.