Gang leader seized as KDF steps up search for raiders

A man suspected to be the leader of the gunmen who have been terrorising residents of Lamu County has been captured.

Sources said on Monday that he was among 16 other suspects wounded in the joint police and Kenya Defence Forces operation in Tana River’s Ozi forest that neighbours Lamu.

The man, described as tall, light-skinned and bearded, is said to be from Kiunga village on the Kenya-Somalia border.

Police say he is a member of the Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab and he commanded the attackers who have killed nearly 100 people in two months of mayhem in Mpeketoni, Poromoko, Maleli and Hindi/Kibiboni and Gamba.

Witnesses said the gunmen burst into homes, shooting dead any man they encountered and slitting the throats of others as their families watched.

The Nation has learnt that the suspects were arrested in the forest after ground troops entered it following days of aerial bombardment that targeted training camps and hideouts.

(READ: Planes used to attack Lamu raiders’ hideouts: Witnesses)

An undetermined number of bodies have also been collected from the forest for DNA analysis to establish their identities.

Weapons, including grenades and automatic rifles have been recovered.

“Some gunmen who escaped during the onslaught are being pursued to Shikiko beach South East of Ozi village where Kenya Navy personnel have been deployed along the Indian Ocean,” said a source in KDF.

“We are pursuing a second suspect who was injured during the Tahmeed Bus attack last month. We visited his home at Shirikisho village in Chara but we haven’t seen him,” said another source.

KDF’s information officer Willy Wesonga on Monday declined to comment and referred the Nation to Lamu county commissioner Njenga Miiri.

“There are people on the ground capable of giving you information. Talk to Lamu county commissioner who is the only person authorised to speak to you,” Col Wesonga said.

NON-COMMITTAL

Mr Miiri is in charge of the joint KDF, General Service Unit, Rapid Deployment Unit and Rural Border Patrol Unit operation.

But when contacted, he was non-committal on the issue.

He said he had not been briefed on casualties, injuries and recovery of weapons but confirmed that the operation had been extended to the neighbouring Tana River County.

However, he confirmed that drugs stolen at a dispensary when gunmen attacked Pandanguo village had been recovered in Boni forest.

Other sources indicated that a suspect wounded during the attack on Gamba Police Station in which nine people were killed had been arrested.

He was captured at Ngumo village on the outskirts of Garsen Town.

Meanwhile, Lamu leaders led by Governor Issa Timamy have criticised what they described as arbitrary arrests of people in the security operation.

Mr Timamy and MPs Ali Athman (Lamu East), Julius Ndegwa (Lamu West) and Woman Representative Shakila Abdalla, accused the security officers of arresting people without informing them of their crime.

They urged Mr Miiri to ensure that his officers were just to the residents. They also were concerned that the whereabouts of some people said to have been arrested were unknown.

The leaders, who were addressing a public meeting at the Mkunguni Square at the weekend, threatened to go to court if security officers, and especially KDF soldiers, did not stop harassing innocent people.

Mr Timamy said it was unconstitutional to arrest someone without explaining to him or her the reasons for doing so.

“As a lawyer, I condemn the acts by our security officers. If someone is a suspect, you should arrest him but first, you have to explain to him why and where you are taking him. Suspects also have a right to be protected,” he said.