MANDERA, KENYA — Two suspected Al-Shabaab operatives, Isaac Abdi Mohamed and Noor Yacob Ali, were arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit in Mandera County. The suspects were plotting to abduct a group of foreign nationals working on a sewer line construction project in Mandera township.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mohamed, alias Kharan Abdi Hassan, had entered Kenya illegally from El-ade in Somalia and forged documents to impersonate a Kenyan. Following a tip-off, authorities apprehended him after discovering that he had planned to pay a local associate Sh100,000 for assistance in carrying out the abduction. Mohamed and Ali had intended to transport the victims to El-ade in exchange for Sh300,000.
A multi-agency security operation conducted on February 18 led to the arrest of Ali, who was captured at the Metameta area within Mandera township.
Both suspects are currently in custody, undergoing further interrogation before being charged for their involvement in terrorist activities.
