From A student to ISIS butcher: How a terrorist came to be

Salim, 28, an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) butcher and a fugitive of justice with a Sh10 million bounty on his head, is staring at a long jail term following his capture in the Democratic Republic of Congo last Friday.

He was arrested in Beni, a city in the north eastern DRC, with two other associates by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who suspected him of being part of the Allied Democratic Forces.

And, while his father loves dreaming, Salim’s change from an obedient, prayerful, academically-focused and harmless young man to a terrorist remains his biggest nightmare.

“Other than his intelligence, Salim grew up just like any other child and did not show any sign that would suggest he would one day make the headline for being the most wanted terror suspect with links to ISIS,” his father told the Nation in an interview at his Kizingo home yesterday.

Salim’s plunge into the criminal underworld was so discreet that none of his family members noticed him slip. After emerging the best candidate in Form Four exams at Aga Khan High School, for instance, he declined to join Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture to pursue a degree in engineering.

According to Mr Mohamed, his son just said he was “not interested.”

This academic about-turn by the top-scorer did not bother his family much and his father, after much convincing, proceeded to enrol him at Technical University of Mombasa for an engineering course, which he did not complete.

His father still did not smell a rat and decided to enrol him for a computer course at a local institution. His life, however, seems to have taken a dramatic turn after interacting with computers, where his friends would see him moving from one cyber to the other.

Terror networks

During this time, international terror networks—including Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, ISIS, Boko Haram and others—were busy recruiting fighters and adherents online, with the Kenyan government warning parents to be vigilant. Salim’s friends believe the computer hot button paved his way to joining ISIS DRC and ISIS Mozambique terror networks.

“He still maintained going to the mosque for prayers. But he became more secretive,” said one of his friends in Kizingo who sought anonymity, citing a family friendship.

Police investigations show computers helped Salim discover a terror cell affiliated to ISIS in Kwale, a group he instantly developed interest in.

He initiated online communication with the group but occasionally travelled to Kwale on undisclosed missions. His father, who until then did not notice any change in his son’s character, decided to send him to Turkey for further studies.

But his stay in Turkey was short-lived, with all hell breaking loose and skeletons rolling out of his closet before his father’s eyes.

Salim was deported from Istanbul in 2016 after it emerged that he had abandoned his studies to play in ISIS topflight league in Syria.

He was in company of another woman suspected to be a terrorist when he was arrested and brought back to Kenya to face terror-related charges. The terrorism case continued for about two years before he was acquitted towards the end of 2017. After the acquittal, Salim continued with his normal life with his family in Mombasa but occasionally made secret trips to Kwale.

The family was stunned again when he was arrested in Kwale with explosive making-materials in 2019.

Security agencies have linked the terror cells in Kwale to the increased radicalisation of youth in Coast, with recruits escaping to Somalia or the central African countries.

Salim was charged with being a member of Al-Shabaab and being in possession of explosives. After staying in prison for months, Salim walked to freedom again after being granted a Sh1.5 million bond.

He religiously attended court sessions until October 2020 when he disappeared, a month after another terror suspect, Juma Athman Mwengo, was gunned down by anti-terror police in Kwale.

Before his death, Juma, just like Salim, was in 2017 arrested and charged with being in possession of explosives. On the day he disappeared, Mr Mohamed said Salim had attended evening prayers as usual but never returned as was his norm.

After hours of waiting, the father said he got worried and reported the matter to police, since he had used his vehicle as a security to secure his son’s freedom.

His responsibility as a surety was to ensure that Salim attended court when required to do so.

“Since it was on a Friday, the police informed me that we needed to wait until either Sunday or Monday, with hopes that he would resurface,” Mr Mohamed told the Nation.

“Police believed he might have gone to visit his friends because it was a weekend. So I returned home believing that he would resurface.”

But, to his surprise, that was the last time he heard of Salim. It was then that the report of his disappearance was recorded in the police’s occurrence book.

“I kept following up on his criminal case in court but I did not see him. I knew he had been killed,” he said.

“We kept on praying as a family that one day he would show up.”

The family breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday when they heard the news about their son’s capture in Democratic Republic of Congo.

They were watching TV when the news about the arrest of his lost son was aired. He saw him being interviewed by locals and thanked God he was alive.

“I was relieved because I am now sure he is alive. We were very depressed as family because he just disappeared with no information about his whereabouts,” he said

“My heart is aching because he was a very bright boy but his life just took a U-turn. He chose a destructive path. My only hope is to see him brought here even if he will be jailed for life,” said the old man as his eyes welled up with tears. Following his arrest, his family is now pleading with the government to repatriate him to Kenya for prosecution.

“I want him brought to Kenya for prosecution. I have said before that let him be jailed if he is found guilty, but if he is not, he should not be harmed,” he said

The distraught father described his son as a very religious and intelligent person who never used to exchange harsh words with his seniors or age mates.

Mr Mohamed said he is ready to educate Salim should he chose to return to school.

“That of course will depend on the outcome of the criminal case facing him,” he said, adding that he is very disappointed with the life that his son has chosen.

But, even as the family hopes that their son will be brought back to the country to face criminal charges, a highly placed security source indicated that the repatriation would take long.

The source confirmed that the security agencies in Kenya were liaising with their DRC counterparts to facilitate the process.

In Kenya, Salim was among the five terror suspects that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had on November 9, 2021, offered a reward of Sh10 million to anyone who might have information that could lead to their arrest.

He is facing two terror related charges—including being a member of the militants and being in possession of explosives.

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