Interpol boss visits Nairobi in the wake of dusitD2 attack

The Interpol Executive Director of Police Services Tim Morris. [Photo: Courtesy]

The Interpol Executive Director of Police Services Tim Morris is in the country a week after the dusitD2 complex attack that left more than 20 people dead.

Mr Morris met with Inspector General of police Joseph Boinnet on Wednesday and discussed issues on terrorism and other transnational crimes.

They agreed to always share intelligence that can deter such crimes.

“We discussed among others the security challenges facing our region bordering on transnational crimes and the ongoing war against terrorism,” said Boinnet.

The official later met his local officials working with the agency as part of efforts to boost their morale.

Interpol is an international organization that facilitates international police cooperation. It has membership of police forces in 181 countries including Kenya.

Interpol detectives are among international agencies that have joined the probe into the dusitD2 attack with an aim to gather data that can be shared with other global agencies.

The detectives who include those from FBI have been camping at the scene of the attack collecting and analyzing collected samples. They want to understand how the gang behind the attack operated and those who supported them here and Somalia.

They have so far established that apart from the suicide bomber, there were two Somalis and two Kenyans in the attack. The gunmen had come from Somalia late last year camped in El-wak, Mandera for more than two months where they worked as traditional medicine suppliers.

They were being hosted by one of the gunmen in dusitD2 attack and whose cousin Abdirahim Abdullahi, a law graduate from the University of Nairobi, was among those who attacked Garissa University in April 2015 killing more than 147 people, majority of them students.

It was after their stay in Mandera that they moved to Nairobi through Moyale and later joined Ali Salim Gachunge in Ruaka.

It is believed the group was radicalized and trained in the same camp at different times in Somalia.

It has emerged the suicide bomber who detonated himself at the complex was a Mombasa born Al-Shabaab recruit who travelled to Somalia for training that took almost five years. 

Mahir Khalid Riziki, 25 was born and brought up at Majengo area in Mombasa Town.