Terror suspects wanted in Egypt, Somalia arrested in Mombasa
From left: Terror suspects Mohamed Mohamed Abdullahi, Mustafa Abdi Saidi and Mohamed Shendy Elhosseiny at the Mombasa Law Courts on August 12, 2021. They were released after police found no evidence linking them to terror activities.
Officers from the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) in Mombasa have arrested and arraigned three terror suspects, including two who are being sought by the Egyptian and Somali governments.
The police allege that Mr Mohamed Shendy Elhosseiny, Mr Mustafa Abdi Saidi and Mr Mohamed Mohamed Abdullahi are suspected to be members of a terrorist group which has membership in Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Egypt.
According to an intelligence report, Mr Shendy and Mr Saidi are wanted in Egypt and Somalia over undisclosed offences.
Mr Shendy is an Egyptian while the other two are Kenyans of Somali origin.
The three were Thursday arraigned in Mombasa where the ATPU officers asked to be allowed to detain them for 15 days in order to complete investigating them.
In an affidavit filed in court, Mr Geoffrey Omete from the ATPU said the three were arrested over their suspicious activities in Mombasa.
Mr Shendy and Mr Abdi are said to have travelled to Mombasa on July 5 using a black Mazda Demio registration number KCQ 082P.
Booked hotel rooms
The suspects then booked rooms at Tawakal Hotel in Mazeras using their passports and identity card respectively.
According to the police report, the suspects were in the company of Samuel Wambugu, who is still at large.
“A hawk-eyed staff at the hotel noticed that their guests were acting suspiciously and reported the matter to Rabai Police Station under OB number 36/5/7/2021,” Mr Omete said in the affidavit.
The suspects then became suspicious and fled from the hotel, leaving behind their identification documents which were later recovered by the police.
Four days later, the suspects travelled back to Mombasa where they were hosted by Mr Abdullahi in Majengo.
According to the police, Mr Saidi then went back to Mazeras to inquire about his passport, but the staff at the hotel directed him to collect it from Rabai Police Station.
Arrested
Mr Saidi was arrested and he then led the ATPU officers to Majengo where Mr Shendy and Mr Abdulahi were apprehended.
“The suspects’ mobile phones have been forwarded to ATPU headquarters for forensic analysis,” Mr Omete told Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate Vincent Adet.
Relying to the affidavit, State Counsel Hillary Isiaho told the court that investigating officers are following intelligence reports to make more arrests of other suspects who are still at large.
“A multi-agency investigation team has been formed to probe this matter and the team is following up with the countries of origin of Mr Saidi and Mr Shendy,” he said.
The prosecutor also said that the detectives are following leads in a bid to detain the motor vehicle which is believed to have carried explosives.
The suspects opposed the application to detain them for 15 days and asked that the police be given at most three days to finalise their investigations.
Mr Adet gave the police 10 days to finalise their investigations.
The suspects have been remanded at Central Police Station.
They will be presented to court on August 23.
