Kenyan police nabs 4 Al-Shabaab terror suspects

Kenyan police on Tuesday arrested four terror suspects linked to the Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State (IS) militants in the coastal city of Mombasa.

The four, Ali Musa, Hamisi Hakumu, Yassin Ahmed and Mwinyi Hamisi were arrested by special unit of anti-terrorism police unit and special crime prevention unit.

The suspects were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Julius Nang'ea but were not allowed to take plea after police requested for more days to complete investigation.

The court granted police three days to detain the suspects at port police station in Mombasa.

"They are facing serious charges that pose serious threat to state security, so I hereby order the suspect be detained in police custody for three more days, at port police station," said Nang'ea. The four are being represented by lawyer Chacha Mwita.

According to reports, the four were arrested in the on going counter terrorism operation being conducted in Mombasa and Nairobi.

At least nine suspects linked to the IS have been arrested in the country recently including a doctor and intern doctors in the coastal town of Malindi.

Reports indicate the doctor had recruited several intern medical students in Malindi and Nairobi through the social media.

"We suspect he was recruiting more students to travel to Somalia and to Syria to join the IS group," said a senior anti-terrorism police officer who is the lead investigator.

Meanwhile, Mombasa police boss Peterson Maelo said the security apparatus are working with foreign agents to apprehend individuals behind IS network in the country.

"We have heightened intelligence gathering, to deal with emerging threat posed by IS group by working with different agents in gathering intelligence reports," said Maelo on Friday. Endit