Four key Al-Shabaab suspects arrested, arms netted

A combined team of security officers over the weekend arrested four key Al-Shabaab suspects and recovered assorted arms in a sting operation inside a refugee camp at Dadaab, Garissa County.

Addressing the press at his office on Tuesday, Amb Mohamud Saleh, North Eastern regional coordinator security officers, acting on a tip-off from members of the public, cordoned off the scene and arrested the suspects.

“Upon searching the house, the officers recovered three AK-47 rifles, 92 rounds of ammunitions, seven magazines, eight magazines pouches, four first aid pouches, six mobile phones and over 200 mobile phone motherboards used in making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs),” he said.

Saleh said that police were interrogating the suspects who are aged between 19 and 24, adding that they had already gotten crucial information that would help the security agents in combating the Somali based terror group.

The administrator thanked members of the public for their renewed cooperation and the information they give security officers in the region on Al-Shabaab operatives and their accomplices.

He assured Kenyans volunteering information to the police that they shall remain anonymous and all the information they give will be kept confidential, adding that “they should not be intimidated by Al-Shabaab”.

He said security along the Kenya-Somali border had been heightened because remnants of Al-Shabaab who had been defeated in Somalia were trying to cross over into Kenya.

The administrator added that over the last 120 days since he reported for duty, they had made a lot of progress in dealing with Al-Shabaab and radicalisation.

Over 50 suspects, among them IT experts, bodyguards of top commanders, informers, intelligence and financiers have been arrested and have provided crucial information on the terror group.

Ambassador Saleh cautioned landlords in the area against allowing aliens into their commercial plots, noting that no aliens are allowed to roam the country.