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Kenyan police arrest two terror suspects in Mombasa

Xinhua, October 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenyan police on Thursday arrested two terror suspects as security agencies intensify surveillance over impending attacks in the coastal city.

Regional Criminal Investigations Department (CID) commander Henry Ondiek said among the suspects arrested include Luqman Mohammed Shee, a key leader believed to be behind killing of police officers and informers in Mombasa.

Luqman, who is a younger brother of a man held in prison over the shooting of a former CID commander, has in the past evaded several police dragnets within the city.

Ondiek said police officers acting on intelligence information ambushed the two and managed to seize several weapons (swords), drugs and a military jacket.

"This is major breakthrough in the war on terrorism, the two are known gang leaders behind knife attacks and shooting of security agents," Ondiek said.

The arrest came a day after security officers said they have enhanced vigilance after intelligence reports had indicated an impending terror attack by Al-Shabaab affiliate group Jeysh Ayman in the coastal region.

Military spokesman David Obonyo said patrols along the Kenya- Somalia borders have been enhanced to deal with Al-Shabaab threats in the region.

The militant group was flushed out of the vast Boni forest in Lamu in a Kenya Defence Force-led operation launched by the government last month.

Ondiek said a police officer was stabbed in the hand during arrest but is in stable condition when they raided their hideout within Majengo.

He said the two are being investigated over terrorism and other criminal activities where innocent people have been stabbed and later robbed of valuables within the coastal city.

On Tuesday the government also released photographs of five wanted terror suspects behind the plot. Two of the five have been traced to terror cell that operated in Mombasa and blamed for a series of terror attacks.

The East African nation has been a soft target for terrorist activities since 1998 and the menace has evolved as radical groups from the Horn of Africa infiltrate the country to kill and maim innocent civilians. Enditem