Thursday, May 29, 2014
by: CALVIN ONSARIGO
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Police are pursuing the owner of the vehicle used to ferry suspected al Shabaab militants who attacked Kenya Defence Forces soldiers near Milimani in Lamu, killing two of them.A suspected al Shabaab member was killed during the gun battle after the militants opened fire when they were they flagged down by the soldiers.
Lamu East police boss Samuel Obara said the vehicle had Kenyan registration number, KAV 599E. It was carrying at least 10 heavily armed militants, who escaped.
KDF soldiers blew up the car.
Obara said the number plate has been forwarded to customs officials in Nairobi to track the owner.
Speaking to the Star on the phone, Obara said a back-up team of KDF and regular police on Monday evening recovered the body of the suspected al Shabaab suspect.
He said preliminary investigations indicate the suspect could be a Tanzanian nationals although he had no travel documents.
Obara said findings indicate the gunmen are among hundreds of foreign fighters who had joined al Shabaab and were on their way to Somalia.
“We have taken his body to Mpeketoni mortuary for fingerprinting for detectives to conduct forensic examination to establish his origin. We suspect he is not a Somalia national,” he said.
Obara said spent cartridges fired from a pistol and AK-47 rifle were collected from the scene for analysis by ballistics experts.
Detectives are investigating the possibility that the gunmen came from Tanzania through the Lunga Lunga border and were delivering arms and food to al Shabaab militants allegedly hiding at Boni Forest.
Police suspect some al Shabaab sympathisers in the country had a hand in the attack.
In 2012, three al Shabaab suspects were killed by KDF soldiers and firearms recovered at Boni Forest.
Security personnel were deployed to comb the forest on Monday .
Obara said poor terrain caused by heavy rainfall has delayed the manhunt for the suspects believed to be six and armed.
“It is challenging to move due to heavy rain. Most of the roads remain impassable. The officers are trailing the militants who sneaked into Somalia,” said Obara.
Kenyan security agencies have beefed up security on the Kenya-Somalia border following threats by al Shabaab to move its fighters into the country.