Court detains four terror suspects for 30 days

Court detains four terror suspects for 30 days

A Mombasa court has detained four terror suspects arrested on Saturday on their way to Libya to join the Islamic State terror group.

The court, before Magistrate Diana Mochache, ordered the four suspects be detained for 30 days to allow police officers conclude their investigations.

The suspects, identified as Mohamed Abdalla Kassim, Faraj Fahim Swaleh, Ali Omar Bwanadi and Kassim Ahmed Ali, are believed to be members of a terror group and are involved in terrorism activities.

They were arrested while trying to cross over to Uganda before finding their way to Libya.

Kassim Ahmed Ali’s ID was recovered in a Majengo house during a police raid in January.

Ali Omar Bwanaadi’s ID was also recovered in the house and he was positively identified as one of the house occupants.

Muhammed Kassim Abdalla is alleged to have been a trusted facilitator for the Ismael Shosi’s terror group in Mombasa while Mustafa Kheri Shali and two other ladies’ identities is still unconfirmed.

One of the suspects initially said they were going to Juba and later they would connect to Libya.

The incident, which happened on Friday, comes weeks after a University of Nairobi student was arrested as he tried to travel to Libya to join terror group ISIS.

Police say they arrested the University of Nairobi Biochemistry student Hassanein Ahmed Basty as he prepared to leave Kenya for Libya.

Basty had been on the police radar and was arrested while trying to leave the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on his way to Sudan and later to Libya.

This is one of the incidents in which young Kenyans are increasingly being recruited to join terror groups to fight alongside extremists.

The student was arrested last month as police revealed the recruiters lure youths with the promise of well-paying jobs in foreign countries only for the unfortunate youth to find themselves forcefully recruited into such extremist groups in Northern Africa and Middle East.

Security experts say Kenya has been a soft target for terrorist activities since 1998 and the menace has evolved as radical groups from the Horn of Africa infiltrate the country to kill and maim innocent civilians.

They said what has changed and is noticeable for it is the increase in vigilance by the public and the fact that if they see something that they consider to be suspicious, they are more likely to report it to the police than they were.

The police, on their side, the experts said, are becoming more professional in their assessment of potential incidents.

Tags:

ISIS Ali Omar Bwanadi Faraj Fahim Swaleh Kassim Ahmed Ali Mohamed Abdalla Kassim Magistrate Diana Mochache Police arrest 4 Terror Suspects on their way to join ISIS

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