Kenyan police arrest al-Shabab suspect in coastal region

LAMU, Kenya, Sept. 8 — Kenyan police in coastal Lamu region have arrested a middle aged male terror suspect believed to have links with the al-Shabab terrorist group, the police confirmed on Saturday.
Paul Leting, Lamu County Directorate of Criminal Investigations Commander said the suspect was arrested on Friday evening by detectives at a local hospital following a tip-off on his presence in the county.
The DCI commander also indicated that the terror suspect had in his possession items believed to be bomb and improvised explosive devices (IED) making materials. He said the items are being investigated by a team of bomb experts.
“We are holding a man who we highly believe is linked to the al-Shabab terror group. We have intelligence that he has been in contact with the commanders in terror group. We also have material we believe he was using to make bombs and IEDs. We don’t want to divulge much as the issue is still under investigation,” said Leting.
The commander expressed optimism that more arrests will be made once the suspect is thoroughly interrogated.
Police are also trying to establish if the terror suspect has any links to medics at the county hospital and what he was doing at the staff quarters shortly before he was arrested.
Lamu County has been in the spotlight for some years now owing to increased scathing attacks by the militants that have left hordes of security officers and civilians dead.
In August, two terror attacks by suspected al-Shabab militants left at least 11 Kenya Defense Forces soldiers (KDF) dead in two separate attacks Lamu.
On Aug. 8, six KDF soldiers were killed and five others seriously wounded after their vehicle ran over an IED at a local bridge in Lamu East Sub County.
On August 29, five KDF soldiers were killed and 10 injured after their vehicle ran over an explosive device on the Kiunga-Sankuri road.
The soldiers are part of a wider security operation launched to flush out al-Shabab militants believed to be hiding inside the expansive Boni forest in Lamu.
The operation was launched by the national government in 2015.

Xinhua