Police arrest six over Christmas terror plot
What you need to know:
- Force’s boss Iteere says group planned attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa and links it to local cell of Al-Qaeda as fireworks banned during Kenya’s most expensive festive season in years
Six suspected Al-Shabaab militants have been arrested amid reports that the terrorist group planned to carry out attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa over the festive period.
Police commissioner Mathew Iteere said the suspects arrested on separate days this week belong to a local cell of the group with links to the global Al-Qaeda terror network.
“We’ve addressed threats in Mombasa and Nairobi. We have arrested six suspects, two in Mombasa and the others here (Nairobi). We are on high alert and we are going to increase police visibility in public places in those areas,” he said.
The local cell of Al-Shabaab operates from Majengo area in Nairobi, according to a past confidential security brief seen by the Nation.
The police chief said the suspects had been interrogated and that his officers were on the look out for others.
“We are talking to them and we cannot allow them to go on with their mission. Every security officer is on the lookout and all such characters will be arrested,” Mr Iteere said.
Security officials privy to police operations told the Nation that the six had on several occasions travelled to Somalia and undergone military training in Al-Shabaab camps in recent years.
Mission on track
The decision to arrest the suspects is understood to have been made after a report prepared by intelligence officers who had been tracking their movements warned the group was planning deadly attacks in Kenya.
The four suspects arrested in Nairobi are reported to have met regularly in various places in the past week.
The intelligence warned that their meetings pointed to a “dangerous mission on track.”
Before the arrests, intelligence officers had also tracked one of the suspects to a busy street at the city centre and believed he was carrying out surveillance for the Al-Shabaab.
The sources told the Nation that the suspect had been seen walking up and down the street on three different days but did not enter any premises.
At one time, he is said to have taken rest at a nearby restaurant but left several minutes later without having ordered a meal or a drink.
Reports of the planned attacks come at a time when the police are concerned that the level of security alertness that had been exhibited by the general public in October had since slackened.
“While all Kenyans must enjoy during the festivities, they must take cognizance that this is not the time to relax, during Christmas and the New Year. We have seen the level of alertness has gone down. Security guards and managers of premises frequented by the public should know that in fact, they shift to a higher gear,” said Mr Iteere.
The police chief urged managers at public places like restaurants, bars, nightclubs and matatu termini to conduct security checks on their customers where need be.
Injuries sustained
The announcement of the latest arrests also comes just days after an intelligence brief disclosed in Parliament indicated that Al-Shabaab had dispatched bomb makers and assassins to eliminate Defence Minister Yusuf Haji and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim.
Mr Iteere spoke at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi where he visited police officers admitted with injuries sustained in explosions attributed to Al-shabaab in North Eastern Province.He also visited other officers at the Nairobi Hospital and the Spinal Injury Hospital.
One of the patients, Constable William Musyoki sustained burns after an explosion in Mandera.
Meanwhile security agencies are at an unprecedented state of alert amid the latest reports that Al-Shabaab planned attacks against Kenya and US interests in the country.
Churches, hotels and shopping malls are among social places being provided with blanket security in an effort to prevent a terrorist attack this festive season.
A detailed operational plan has been sent to commanders of security agencies countrywide as part of measures to avert a terrorist attack.
The plan includes a guide to officers on terrorism prevention, detection and how to act in case of an emergency.
Besides the police and the military, a number of private security firms in urban centres have also been included in confidential security plans to ensure safety during the festive period.
The new measures have also seen selected public places being upgraded, albeit temporarily, to the status known in security parlance as “vital installations.
