Mandera police force interrogate 19 suspects over terror activity
MANDERA (Xinhua) — Kenyan police on Friday arrested 19 suspects, among them three Somali aliens believed to be part of a gang aiding terror activities in the border town of Mandera.
Mandera County Police Commander Noah Mwivanda confirmed the arrests, saying that the security forces were on the third day in an ongoing police swoop to arrest aliens and criminals who have been terrorizing the residents.
“The swoop is intended to weed out illegal immigrants, ‘al-Shabaab’ operatives and their sympathizers.
“We have recovered explosives, and components used in making improvised explosive devices (IED), but no firearm has been nabbed,” said Mwivanda.
“We shall take the 19 suspects to court to face different charges and I want to confirm that police are making good progress in curbing terror in Mandera town,” said Mwivanda.
The officer said police had restored calm in Rhamu following fresh hostilities pitting the two major Somali clans of Garre and Degodia.
“We are having a big challenge of dealing with these two clans’ militias as they spill over from Ethiopia to Kenya, and after their unlawful activities, they run back into their hideouts in Ethiopia,” he said.
Mwivanda has blamed the perennial inter clan unrests on unresolved border crisis between Wajir and Mandera.
The two warring clans of Degodia and Garre have over the years been fighting for supremacy and control of the county.
The clashes made the government deploy a contingent of security personnel to quell the clashes in July last year.
The locals were also asked to surrender the firearms they had through the disarmament program.
Tension and conflict between the two communities have historically resulted from competition for natural resources, but recently the emerging tensions are attributed to political disagreements over governance issues under the new devolution structures.
The area has been unstable since last year’s general elections in which the Garre community received most of the elective seats.