Local angle in attack?
Authorities probe possibility that Nairobi hotel assault was not carried out by Somalis
INVESTIGATORS in Kenya are exploring the possibility that some of the militants who attacked a Nairobi hotel and office complex may not have been ethnic Somalis, stoking fears that militants are deepening their pools of recruitment in the region.
Officials have released few details about the five-man assault team that carried out Tuesday’s siege at the Dusitd2 hotel complex, which killed 21 people and was claimed by al-shabaab, a Somalia-based al-qaeda affiliate.
But police, private security sources and local media reports have highlighted the involvement of a 26-yearold suspect identified in court documents as Ali Salim Gichunge, who was born and raised in central Kenya, as evidence of the group’s lure to people outside its traditional strongholds.
“The government needs to look at (Gichunge’s) profile. How did he get to where he is?” asked a private security official in Kenya, who asked not to be identified for operational reasons.
“If al-shabaab can replicate this model, then there is a fundamental problem.”
All five assailants were killed in Tuesday’s attack, the country’s president said in a televised address.
Police said on Friday they had detained nine other suspects.
Five of the suspects, one of them listed as a Canadian citizen, were taken to a magistrate’s court and ordered to be detained for 30 days.
Two were taxi drivers and one was a mobile phone financial services agent, court documents said.
The others have not yet appeared. They may have been released or may be brought before a magistrate. Police can hold suspects for 24 hours and need a court order to extend this.
An officer also told Reuters police were pursuing a woman suspected of ferrying weapons to Nairobi from Kiunga, near the border with Somalia, via the port city of Mombasa.
There are multiple programmes aimed at preventing radicalisation in Kenya, but analysts say the efforts appear to be falling short.
Those close to Gichunge said they were stunned when he appeared in CCTV footage of the attack toting an assault rifle and firing at a white car.
“I have a lot of questions that need answers just like everyone else,” said Gichunge’s sister in Mombasa. “I also saw him on TV, and we didn’t expect him to be there.”
The pair’s father is an officer in the Kenyan military, she said. “It is inconceivable how the son of a military man can turn out to be a member of al-shabaab.” |