Police kill four 'terrorists' in Malindi and recover deadly arsenal

Malindi OCPD Matawa Mchangi displays photos of terror suspects during a press conference at the Malindi Police Station in Kilifi County Wednesday. Four of the suspects were shot dead by police at a house in Kwa Chocha, Malindi. [PHOTO: MAARUFU MOHAMED/STANDARD]

KENYA: Four suspected terrorists were yesterday shot dead by police in Malindi.

One of the suspects threw a grenade at the security officers as two others fled, police said. One of the slain men has had a Sh2 million bounty on his head over terror-related activities.

Kilifi County Police Commander David Ole Leina said as police stormed the Kwa Chocha house in which the men were living, one of them hurled the explosive at them but it missed its target.

Speaking in Mombasa, Coast Regional Commissioner Nelson Marwa said the four are part of a network of terror suspects fleeing the ongoing Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) operation meant to smoke out Al Shabaab operatives in Boni Forest.

The four were identified as Suleiman Awadh aka Nakshi aka Hamza, Abdalla Salim Marumu aka Dagas aka Khalid, Issa Jabir from Kisauni and Zakaria Mohamed Athumani.

Mr Marwa said the four were killed after a confrontation with the police. No officer was injured.

Officials in Kilifi said the four have been plotting attacks in Malindi since November last year and were detected by locals who alerted the authorities.

Malindi OCPD Matawa Mchangi said the six men came to the village last November and rented a house for Sh14,000 per month.

Yesterday Marwa gave details of how police had raided a house in Kipini in Tana River County and arrested two suspects, Mohamed Abdurahman Mohamed and Zakaria Mohamed who in turn led the officers to a house in Kwa Chocha, Malindi.

"The occupants opened fire and threw a grenade at the officers. The officers returned fire and gunned down the four who included Zakaria Mohamed, who was arrested in the earlier raid at Kipini when he tried to escape," Marwa said. He said Mohamed Abdurahman Mohamed and one other suspect escaped. Malindi OCPD Matawa Mchangi said two or three suspects escaped through the roof with gunshot injuries.

Marwa urged administrators of public and private hospitals in Lamu, Malindi, Tana River and Ijara to be on the lookout for the suspects.

Marwa said five hand grenades, one browning pistol with a magazine of 7.65 ammo and one laptop with jihadi literature were recovered.

Police also found 10 mobile phones, 12 spent cartridges of 7.62 mm special, unused Safaricom and Orange SIM cards and a map showing Mokowe-Malindi-Ijara route.