Four suspected members of al Shabaab were arrested at Ifo refugee camp in Dadaab, Garissa county, in a sting operation last weekend.
Security officials display weapons recovered following the arrest of four al Shabaab suspects at Ifo refugee camp in Dadaab, Garissa county, at the weekend. Photo/STEPHEN ASTARIKO
They were arrested in a house where arms, including three AK 47 rifles, 92 bullets, seven magazines and eight magazine pouches, were recovered, an official said.
Northeastern regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh said the mutli-agency team also found four first aid pouches, six mobile phones and more than 200 mobile phone motherboards used to make IEDs.
“We are still holding the four al Shabaab suspects aged between 19 and 24. They have been very cooperative and have given us crucial information,” Saleh told the press at his office on Tuesday.
“We have all the information on strategies, movement, hideouts, strength and capabilities of al Shabaab.
He said security at the Kenya-Somalia border has been heightened to keep fleeing members of the al-Qaeda linked group from crossing over.
“Marauding ragtags of al Shabaab combatants, who have been smoked out of Somalia, have nowhere to run. Al Shabaab will soon be history,” he said.
Saleh said detectives made the arrests after sealing off the camp following a tip-off from members of the public.
He said more than 50 suspected members of al Shabaab, including IT experts, bodyguards of top commanders, informers and financiers, have been arrested in the last three months.
He lauded the public for cooperating with officers and assured that those who give the police information will remain anonymous.
Saleh asked landlords to verify the identities of potential tenants before accommodating them.
It is criminal for anyone to harbour unregistered foreign nationals, he noted, adding that refugees from Somalia should be confined to camps.
