NIS officer is latest victim of hit squad

A National Intelligence Service officer attached to the headquarters in Nairobi is the latest victim of assassinations committed by a hit squad in Mombasa County.

The group is targeting security officers, their associates and friends.

Coast Police Commandant Robert Kitur said Mr Hashim Salman, 29, was fatally shot by the hit squad in Old Town on Thursday around 7pm.

The squad members commit the crimes while wearing religious attire to disguise themselves.

Police have launched a manhunt for Ismail Mohammed Soshi, who is suspected of killing Mr Salman.

Soshi is also suspected of being behind last week’s shooting of a police officer who was guarding a bank in Bondeni. The officer is recuperating at a private hospital in the county.

Police blamed him for the killing of two tourists, a Russian and a German, in Old Town in separate incidents last year.

According to the regional police commandant, the suspect was trained by Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

“A cash bounty for his arrest has been offered. The NIS officer was in Mombasa for a few days to see his family. On Thursday evening, he was heading home from prayers at the Hanisa Mosque, located off Abdel Nassir Road in Bondeni. He was in the company of other Muslims,” said Mr Kitur.

“Fifteen metres from the mosque, two men clad in buibuis and wearing masks approached Mr Salman and shot him,” he added.

“The officer died while undergoing treatment at Pandya Hospital a few hours later. We are wondering why they killed him. We believe many people witnessed the incident,” said Mr Kitur as he appealed to the public for information that could help in the search for the culprits.

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and some security bosses visited the NIS officer at the hospital minutes after the shooting.

Last year, the suspect escaped a police dragnet. His 26-year-old brother Idris Mohammed was shot dead by police at the family’s Floringi home in Bondeni.

According to the family, the officers killed an innocent individual as it was Soshi who had a case before a Mombasa court. They said Idris had no criminal record.

According to the court file, an arrest warrant was issued against Soshi after he skipped bail.

The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya organising secretary, Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa, asked the security agents to investigate and arrest criminals misusing the religious clothing.