Kenya: Police probe four Burundians over Al-Shabaab links
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- Posted On 14-09-2017, 08:25PM
ISIOLO, Kenya -- Kenyan authorities said Tuesday they are interrogating four Burundians who were arrested in Isiolo County in northeast Kenya while on their way to join Al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia.
Isiolo County Commissioner George Natembeya said the suspects who had traveled from Bujumbura to Nairobi as tourists had embarked on journey that would have taken them to Mandera county in northeast Kenya and later cross into Somalia.
“The police stopped four Burundians at a roadblock early Tuesday and after being questioned, they said they were headed to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab terror group,” Natembeya said.
The suspects are being interrogated by Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) and will be arraigned in court once investigations have been completed.
Police investigators said some of the Burundians had confessed planning to join the Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group.
The anti-terrorist police recently unearthed a syndicate of extremist online recruiters who have been targeting university students to join armed extremist groups in Somalia, Libya and the Middle East.
The recruiters lure these youths with the promise of well-paying jobs in foreign countries only for the hapless youth to find themselves forcefully recruited into these extremist groups,” the police say.
Security experts say Kenya 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.
The Tuesday arrest came after five people were arrested in Isiolo County in June while on their way to Al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia.
The suspects were in two groups at the time of their arrest by detectives from the ATPU were all aged below 20 and come from Tulluroba and Chechelesi estates.
Isiolo County, which borders Ethiopia, has enjoyed relative peace despite several civilians including policemen having been killed, especially in the northern counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera which are near the border with Somalia.
Source: GO + Xinhua
