Kenyan police detain 3 suspected al Shabaab militants

Kenyan police in the northwestern town of Kitale have detained three people on suspicion of close links with the Somalia-based militant group of Al-Shabaab. Police swung into action after receiving a tip from the public and nabbed the three including two Somali ladies and an Ethiopian man at the Kitale main stage, while they were trying to board a bus to Lodwar in northern Kenya. "We received information that some strangers are in town and we rushed to the scene and managed to arrest them," Kitale district crime investigation officer Linus Owango told journalists on Wednesday. The suspects identified as Fatuma Shire, Farhia Mohammed of Somalia origin and Ethiopian Mahat Halane have been interrogated and presented to court. Owango said they had received information over the presence of the strangers in town when they swarmed into action. He said the three were suspicious and lacked traveling documents or legal documents permitting them to be in the country. Mwango said the suspects had been presented to court and remanded to enable anti-terrorism unit to conduct more investigation on their links with Al-Shabaab. "We have presented them to court and requested the court to remand them for further interrogation by the ant-terrorism unit," he added. Police in the area are also holding four Sudanese nationals after they were found traveling to Kakuma refugee camp without proper documents. Owango said the four suspects were arrested by local base commander Njue Njeru while traveling in car in Kitale. "We are interrogating them after they were found without letters authorizing their traveling. They had only identification cards issued by the government of Kenya to the refugees," he said. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Trans-Nzoia County have asked the government to intensify security along its international borders to curb the gun smuggling and shield Kenyans from frequent attacks from terrorists. The local leaders called on the government to beef up security along Kenya's border with Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia to check on the influx of light weapons and terrorists. Led by area lawmaker Chris Wamalwa, the leaders said that the recent attack at the Westgate mall indicates that the country's porous borders are being used by criminals to smuggle weapons into the country. The legislators said that security at the Suam border is inadequate and if the matter is not urgently settle, criminals might find easy way of effecting, their plans. "The government has the responsibility to protect the people from terrorists and this can only happen if the country's entry points are secured since criminal have been smuggling guns through the borders which is threatening peace, development and stability of our country," said Nangabo.