A terror suspect arrested in Mandera for plotting the abduction of foreigners working on a sewerage project had fraudulently applied for a Kenyan national identity card.

Isaac Abdi Mohammed alias Kharan Abdi Hassan 29, and his accomplice, Noor Yakub Ali, are believed to have been co-ordinating terror activities within the county.

The Mandera Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Pius Gitari said they were interrogating the suspects before taking them to court. Abdi, from El-Adde in Somalia, is reported to have recently crossed into Kenya and fraudulently acquired identification documents that enabled him to move freely.

“The suspect, Isaac Abdi Mohamed alias Kharan Abdi Hassan, aged about 29 years, suspected to be a Somalia national, recently came to Kenya and fraudulently applied for a Kenyan identity card,” a police citation read.

Kenyan accomplices
After grilling, the suspects confessed that they were on a mission to also abduct doctors and Chinese nationals within Mandera township. He also revealed that he was working closely with a Kenyan namely Ali, who was also later arrested at Metamora area within Mandera township by a multi-agency security team.

In his plan, Abdi is said to have paid a local resident in Mandera about Sh100,000 to facilitate abduction of the foreigners who were working on a sewerage project in Mandera near the Kenya-Somalia border.

The Mandera Water and Sewerage project, which was launched in 2018, is being undertaken by Sinohydro Corporation Limited, a Chinese-owned company.

When planning for the security of the workers on site at the start of the project, the Chinese rejected a plan to have them housed at a local military base.

According to Gitari, the two suspects had planned to have their target victims taken to El-Adde at a cost of Sh300,000.

He added that a joint security operation had been launched to arrest the other suspects.

In April 2020, terrorists also kidnapped two Cuban doctors working in Mandera and took them to Somalia.

The two, Dr Assel Herrera Correa and Dr Landy Rodriguez Hernandez were on their way to their workstation when they were waylaid and bundled into a vehicle that sped off towards Somalia.

The whereabouts of the doctors remained unknown to date. A police officer, Constable Mutundo Kitambo attached to the two doctors was killed in the incident while another officer escaped unhurt.

Last week, police also launched investigations into the escape of a terror suspect from custody at Elwak police station in Mandera.

Missing suspects
Muse Muhumed Abdule had been detained at the station since February 9 when he was arrested in the area over terror links, police said. He was produced in court and an order issued to detain him at the station pending probe and further arraignment.

“Two officers who were on duty when the suspect escaped have been arrested. Preliminary investigations have revealed that there was no actual breaking out of the cells,” a senior detective said.

The escape was only discovered when a detective from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) went to pick the suspect from custody for further grilling.

The area and most parts of the North-eastern region have been facing terror-related attacks, prompting police operations to address the same. Police said the suspect was arrested after he was linked to terrorism activities in the area.

The escape happened just five days after eight hard-core criminals escaped when suspected Turkana bandits shot dead Marti Police station driver, Constable Humphrey Oroba at Charda area, along the Maralal -Baragoi -South Horr road in Samburu North sub-county.