Highlights
Kenya’s security operations going on in the country’s vast Boni Forest has nabbed two citizens of Tanzania.
Tanzania, which is a day to national polls, has been analyzed to be exposed to moderate security threat posed by the Somali based Harakat Al Shabaab Al Mujahideen terror group.
Operation Linda Boni, earlier launched in Kenya’s Lamu County, has been extended to neighbouring Garissa and Tana River counties.
Summary
The two Tanzanians were arrested at roadblocks erected by security personnel in the ongoing Operation Linda Boni. They are part of the dozens arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) in the ongoing operation at Kenya’s border with Somalia.
According to intelligence summaries, one of the suspects, Mashuud Bashir Hamisi, sneaked back to Kenya after the ATPU deported him to Tanzania in January last year.
The other suspect, Twaha Rashid Hiyal, 20, from Bagamoyo, was arrested in Lamu, where he is said to have been planning to cross the border into Somalia.
The two pleaded guilty in court for belonging to the terror group, the Al Shabaab. They have also operated from the Boni to carry out terrorist activities within the Kenyan borders.
Last month, Kenya renewed her corporation with her neighbor Tanzania for economic development as well as in tackling cross-border insurgence.
The recent arrest confirms the fact that Tanzania is exposed to a severe terror threat stemming from the Al Shabaab. It is terrorists like Mashuud and Hiyal who go back to their home countries to carry out mass recruitment and attacks.
