Officers from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) apprehended three suspects in Mombasa on April 13 who were suspected of having ties to known Somali terror operations.
At Muzamil Shop in Kisauni’s Barsheba neighborhood, Osman Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Ibrahim, and Hussein Ibrahim were apprehended.
They were arrested at three different police stations in Mombasa: Central Police Station, Port Police Station, and Makupa Police Station.
The three were allegedly involved in the planning of imminent attacks within the coastal region over the Easter holiday, according to ATPU.
According to ATPU intelligence sources, the attack was coordinated by seven al Shabab members despatched from Somalia.
Police are still on the lookout for the three suspects’ additional accomplices who are believed to be in Mombasa.
It was Tuesday the three suspects were arraigned before the Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Vincent Adet, where the prosecution asked for more days to complete their investigation.
They were not prosecuted.
An officer assigned to ATPU in the region stated in a sworn document that the three suspects were in frequent communication with terror agents in Somalia.
Four cellphones were discovered during the arrest of the three suspects.
Mohammed Ibrahim Hassan, the second accused suspect, is thought to be a Somali national who snuck into the country on an unknown assignment.
He allegedly attempted to obtain a Kenyan driver’s license.
The investigating team will need more time, state prosecutor Hillary Isiaho told the court, to determine the nationalities of the three and their motive.
“The investigating team needs time to travel to the Dadaab and IFO Refugee camps in Garissa County, where the second respondent is thought to have met with other known suspects,” says the statement.
On Monday, the third accused person Hussein Ibrahim allegedly tried to smuggle a cell phone into Makupa police station, where he is being held.
The phones have since been forwarded to ATPU headquarters in Nairobi for extraction of analysis and the investigation team is yet to receive call data records, Mpesa statements, and other relevant communication data from service providers.
The court was also informed that there is an ongoing parallel investigation in Nairobi in relation to their arrest and if the respondents are set free, they wound hinder investigations that are at an advanced stage.
Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Adet granted the police 14 more days to continue holding the suspects as they conclude their investigations.