Mtwara Regional Police Commander Zelothe Stephen displays DVDs of
alleged terrorist training manuals seized from 11 youths arrested in
Nanyumbu District. PHOTO | ABDALLAH BAKARI
By Abdallah Bakari and Katare Mbashiru, The Citizen
Posted Tuesday, October 8 2013 at 09:17
Posted Tuesday, October 8 2013 at 09:17
In Summary
The suspects were arrested at Makolionga
Mountain in Nanyumbu District following a tip-off from members of the
public, who saw them in the forest performing military drills.
Mtwara /Dar. Police in Mtwara Region are holding eleven people on suspicion of taking part in Shabaab-sponsored guerrilla training.
The suspects were arrested at Makolionga Mountain
in Nanyumbu District following a tip-off from members of the public, who
saw them in the forest performing military drills.
Regional Police Commander Zelothe Stephen told a
news conference yesterday that the 11 were arrested in possession of 25
digital video discs (DVDs) featuring Al-Shabaab training manuals.
According to him, the suspects were also in possession of locally made firearms.
“We were tipped off a week ago, that there was a
group of people undergoing intensive military drills in the forest; we
acted swiftly and nabbed them,’’ said the RPC.
He said the police were still interrogating the
suspects, seeking to know, besides other things, who their financiers
and sponsors are. Mr Stephen said their leader is a 39-year-old Mohammed
Makande.
He went on to name other suspects as: Hassan
Omary, 39, Rashid Ismail, 27, Abdallah Hamisi, 32, SalumWadi, 38,
Fadhili Rajabu, 20, Abbas Muhidini, 32, Ismail Chande, 18, Said Mawazo,
Issa Abeid, 21 and Ramadhani Rajabu, 26.
The arrest comes at a time when there is an
escalation in incidents of terrorism in the region, especially in
neighbouring Kenya and Somalia.
President Jakaya Kikwete last week urged members
of the public to take extra precaution as the government beefs up
security in those areas considered to be potential targets.
“We have instructed the owners of establishments
that attract huge numbers of people to install security cameras and make
sure metal detectors and x-rays are available,’’ said the Head of the
State in his televised end-of-the-month address.
The suspects, according to the Mtwara police
chief, would appear in court immediately after the completion of
investigations. He noted that all suspects are from Nanyumbu District.
A team of detectives from the police headquarters has been dispatched to Mtwara to beef up the interrogation, Mr Stephen added.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
He further said that after previewing the DVDs, the police found
out that they contained footages featuring activities of Al-Shabaab
militants, the assassination of Osama bin Laden and Zanzibar’s Uamsho
group.
The DVDs, according to Mr Stephen, also show footages of the late Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin Dada, and the Mogadishu Sniper.
“This is an indicator that we are not safe,
because we found the group hiding at a heavily guarded forest in the
district,’’ the regional police boss added. He appealed to good
Samaritans to volunteer information on any suspicious activities.
JNIA terror suspects repatriated
Meanwhile, the director of criminal investigations
(DCI), Mr Robert Manumba, yesterday said the two people who were
arrested on suspicion of being terrorists at the Julius Nyerere
International Airport (JNIA) on Saturday evening (not Sunday morning as
earlier reported) have been repatriated to Malaysia.
Mr Abutaha Hamza and Mr Mohammed Alnems were
arrested at the JNIA a few minutes before boarding a Nairobi-bound Kenya
Airways flight.
According to Mr Manumba, the Palestinian nationals
were heading to Malaysia via Nairobi. The two were suspected by the
airline’s cabin crew after they were found with fake tickets.
“After interrogation we found out that they were
not terrorists but had tried to forge tickets to return to their country
because they didn’t have cash to buy tickets,’’ said Mr Manumba in a
telephone interview.
Following the arrest, Kenya Airways headquarters
in Nairobi sent a team of security personnel to verify the authenticity
of the tickets that the two suspects were holding.
It was later established that the tickets were fake, according to the DCI.
Mr Manumba added that Tanzanian police, in
collaboration with Immigration officials, decided that the two be
deported to Malaysia where they were heading before their arrest.
He revealed that the government shouldered the costs of deporting the two Palestinians.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
