Kenyan police arrest Briton, 2 Somali women terror suspects

Kenyan police on Tuesday arrested a British national and two women of Somali origin at a residential estate in Nairobi on suspicion of being Al-Shabaab trainers and recruiters.

A senior police officer confirmed the arrest, saying a major security operation was mounted at Nairobi's up-market Nyali home of the British national identified as only Tom and took him away with the women.

The three were arrested at their Gigiri home at around midday. The police found items including training literature, books, bullet proof jackets and laptops during a raid at their house where the Briton had been living," the police officer told Xinhua.

A security guard said the Briton had been living there for the last three years and is reported to have traveled to Somalia on several occasions.

Criminal Investigations Department director chief Ndegwa Muhoro, who visited the house, declined to comment but promised a comprehensive statement on the matter.

The East African nation has heightened vigilance in the wake of intelligence reports indicating the country is still vulnerable to terror attacks.

A recent report from Intergovernmental Authority on Development, disclosed that Al-Shabaab had intensified recruitment of women, children and youth to replenish its diminishing number of fighters.

The report urged countries in the greater Horn of Africa region to retool their counter-terrorism strategies in the face of a rapidly evolving threat. Endit