Kenyan police arrest 109 at mosques, seize explosives
Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:45pm GMT
By Joseph Akwiri
MOMBASA, Kenya Nov 19 (Reuters) - Kenyan police found explosives at three
mosques in Mombasa on Wednesday and arrested 109 people on suspicion they
were undergoing militant training, in the latest in a series of raids in the
port city.
Kenya is looking to break up Islamist militant networks it blames for a
series of attacks in the capital Nairobi as well as along its Indian Ocean
coastline, saying many of the recruits are inspired by al Shabaab, an al
Qaeda-linked Somali group.
"These operations have started and will go on until all places of worship
especially mosques in Mombasa are set free from terrorist and criminal
elements," Robert Kitur, Mombasa County police commander, told Reuters.
"We have been gathering intelligence for a long period, and it was time to
act."
Police raided two mosques on Monday, seizing weapons and literature that
they said was evidence of militant activity. The following day, a group of
youths with machetes and knives killed three people.
Richard Ngatia, a local police chief, said investigators on Wednesday found
three machetes at Mombasa's Mina mosque and a grenade, while two 10-litre
petrol bombs and a bomb detonator were uncovered at Swafaa mosque.
"The mosques have been radicalising youth, training and encouraging them in
jihadism. We also recovered a booster used to accelerate explosions ... and
literature about jihadism," Ngatia said.
Police have arrested 376 people so far during the raids, which started on
Sunday, but 91 were subsequently released for lack of evidence. Prosecutors
said 158 would be charged with being members of al Shabaab. Police said they
were still considering what to do with the other detainees.
Al Shabaab killed at least 67 people in a gun and grenade raid on a Nairobi
shopping mall last September, saying it was revenge for attacks on its
fighters by Kenyan troops in Somalia.
Insecurity plagues East Africa's biggest economy, and attacks in the past
year on the coast and in the capital have prompted Western nations to issue
travel warnings, hitting the tourism industry, which is a big source of hard
currency. (Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Crispian Balmer)