Kenya: Police seize explosives and weapon in raids on mosques

Police in Kenya carried out new raids at mosques in the coastal city of Mombasa on Wednesday, finding explosives and arresting more than 100 people on suspicion they were undergoing militant training.

According to police officials, the raids on the Swafaa and Minaa mosques found grenades, ammunition and petrol bombs.

Kenya is looking to break up Islamist militant networks it blames for a series of attacks in the capital, Nairobi, as well as along its Indian Ocean coastline. Police say many of the recruits are inspired by the al-Qaeda-linked Somali group, al-Shabaab.

“These operations have started and will go on until all places of worship especially mosques in Mombasa are set free from terrorist and criminal elements,” Robert Kitur, the Mombasa County police commander, told reporters.

“We have been gathering intelligence for a long period, and it was time to act. There was obviously a lot more than just prayers and sermons taking place,” the police chief added.

Police raided two mosques on Monday, seizing weapons and literature that they said was evidence of militant activity. According to police, “the mosques have been radicalizing youth, training and encouraging them in jihadism.”

Kenya has suffered a series of attacks since invading Somalia in 2011 in a bid to stop the al-Shabaab and to prevent the group from targeting its assets. Al-Shabaab fighters killed at least 67 people in a gun and grenade raid on a Nairobi shopping mall in September last year.

Source: Reuters and AFP