Kenyan police nab terror suspect, recover firearm in border region

Kenyan securities officers are on Sunday interrogating a terror suspect who was arrested in the border town of Garissa with a pistol loaded with 10 rounds of ammunitions.

Northeastern regional coordinator Mohamud Saleh said the male suspect was arrested in Bulakamor within Garissa town by officers as he trying to hide the weapon.

Saleh said members of the public who spotted him become suspicious of his presence and informed the area local administrators who immediately called police officers who swiftly arrested him.

"We want to thank members of the public for providing crucial information that led to his arrest. Had it not for them, the terror suspect could still be roaming freely with the weapon which we believe he wanted to use to kill people," Saleh said in Garissa.

The government administrator said the suspect was found with the gun that he had hidden in a thicket.

Saleh said a multi-agency security team was still interrogating the man with a view of identifying his nationality, adding that he had no documents at all.

He said preliminary investigations had revealed that the man could be on a list of people security officers have been looking for in the area. He, however, noted that none of the people he was looking for in the area was known by the locals.

However, a reliable source gave a conflicting report, saying that the pistol belonged to police officer who misplaced it while drunk.

"The gun belonged to a regular police constable who misplaced it while drunk. It is at this point that he gave the man who is his close friend and was to hand it over to him later. But before he could do these people saw him with it and informed the area administrator," said the source.

He said it is like the police are trying to shield their colleague from any wrong doing and instead have decided to use the innocent man as a scapegoat.

The East African nation continues to suffer several attacks as terrorists change tuck to beat heightened security and carry on with their heinous acts undetected.

Most of these attacks occur in northeastern Kenya, mainly in Dadaab, Wajir, Garissa, and Mandera counties. Several attacks also occurred along the Kenyan coast.

Source: XINHUA