NANDI,Kenya, Dec, 1 – A woman suspected to have links with the Al-Shabaab terror group was arrested Tuesday in Tinderet, Nandi County during a police operation.
According to preliminary reports, officers attached to the Soghor police station received a tip-off from members of the public, about a suspicious 22-year-old woman who was cohabiting with a man in Kamalambu village.
She is said to have come back to Kenya through Lamu and Mombasa in August this year.
DCI George Kinoti said villagers fears were confirmed when during interrogation after being arrested, the woman told detectives that she had been in Somalia for two years after allegedly being kidnapped by members of the Alshabab terror network in Kilifi, in 2019.
“She confessed to have been trained on weapon handling skills, hostage taking and use of explosives among other skills,” he said.
He added the woman is said to have attended the recently concluded Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruitment exercise at different centers.
The motive of her actions is yet to be known.
Anti Terror detectives have since taken over investigations into the matter and shall be grilling the suspect for more information, police said.
“DCI thanks the members of the public in Tinderet, Nandi county who volunteered information leading to the arrest of the suspect. This kind of mutual partnership between the public and police officers is highly encouraged since a secure nation is our collective responsibility.”
Kenya is on high alert following reports of a possible attack by the terrorists.
Police operations have been heightened following terrorist threats.
Last week, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i warned Kenyans to brace themselves for more security checks within vital facilities, as the government heightens security across the country.
These will include airports and railway stations.
The CS said despite the re-arrest of three convicts who escaped from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, the country was yet to get out of the woods. All three were imprisoned on terror-related charges.
They are Musharaf Abdalla Akhulunga, Mohamed Ali Abikar and Joseph Juma Odhiambo.
“I need to caution the public that we are in an unusual space because of what is happening around us. Please let us be very careful and watchful,” the CS said.
Abikar was charged and convicted in 2019 for his links to al Shabaab and for abetting the Garissa University College attack of April 2015 that left 148 people dead.
Odhiambo was arrested in 2019 for trying to join the Somali terror group.
Akhulunga was arrested in 2012 over a foiled attack on Kenya’s Parliament and charged with possessing explosives, ammunition and firearms.
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