Police name 11 linked to al Shabaab group
What you need to know:
- Terrorists and their spouses are converts who have adopted Muslim names
Recent converts to Islam are being recruited by al Shabaab and trained in Somalia for future attacks against Kenya, police warned on Monday.
The alert comes just a week after the terrorist group affiliated to al Qaeda threatened to attack Kenya.
Police also named 11 Kenyans they said were al Shabaab agents who have been given military training and sent to Kenya, possibly to organise terror attacks.
Two of those named — John Mwanzia Ngui alias Yahya and David Mwanzia Wangeci alias Yusuf — were killed on December 3, last year, after they shot dead police officers in Kasarani, Nairobi, then lobbed a grenade to keep off a surging crowd.
Deputy police spokesman Charles Owino released the report that shows converts were recruited from Nairobi, Central and Western provinces.
“A recent operation to arrest these suspects was not successful and we are, therefore, appealing for the assistance of the public who may have information on their whereabouts,” reads part of the report.
Police said they were planning unspecified attacks in Nairobi and linked past onslaughts to the group, including the Uhuru Park bombing on June 13, as well as multiple explosions in Kampala in which 76 people were killed in July last year.
“Investigations have revealed a wide network of suspects fitting the same profiles and confirmed by independent witnesses,” part of the report reads.
Last week, Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere reacted to the threat by sending a security alert, while assuring Kenyans that adequate security measures had been put in place.
One of the suspects police want the public to watch out for is 25-year-old Eric Achayo Ogada, also known as Swaleh or Ibrahim.
They described him as an al Shabaab spy living in New Mathare estate, Nairobi.
He was born in Yala, Siaya District, and was recruited in 2008 and trained in Somalia for a year.
Steven Mwanzia, 29, is named as Swaleh’s partner in the spying mission. He was born and brought up in Emuhaya, Vihiga District, and took new names — Abbas alias Duda Brown — after being recruited in Huruma, Nairobi.
Both men are loaders at Gikomba Market, the police say, and underwent military training together in Somalia.
Others suspects in the police bulletin include Abass Hussein Nderitu who lives in California, Nairobi, Ibrahim Ruta alias Musyoki Kyondi, Abdulrahma Mutua Daud, Jeremiah Okumu alias Duda Black, Abaaa Mohamed Mwai, and Juma Ayub Otit Were.
The report also identifies their spouses, who have also adopted new names.
