“The executors of the attack on the Kenyan police in the port city of Mombasa are supporters of the Islamic State and they carried out the operation in response to calls to target the Crusader states”, the agency said.
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Three terror suspects of Somali origin, all of them female, linked to the Sunday attack on Mombasa Central Police Station will remain in custody until Wednesday, September 13 when language and sign interpreters will be availed.
The letter is signed by “Umm Maysarah”, “Umm Ma’bad” and “Umm Sa’ad”, who pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, SITE Intelligence said late Monday.
The head of the national Anti-terrorism Police Unit, Munga Nyale, says they can not immediately establish the letter’s authenticity.
But recent arrests show the Islamic State’s growing presence in East Africa, where they are recruiting young Kenyans for jihad overseas and raising fears some of them will return to threaten the country. Kenyan authorities report they also recovered an unexploded suicide vest, two bullet-proof jackets, and an unused petrol bomb from the dead suspects.
Al-Qaida has had a presence in East Africa for years through its Somalia-based al-Shabab affiliate, which has recruited hundreds of Kenyans and used them in deadly attacks.
According to the Kenyan media, senior police officials said two of the attackers “displayed admiration for the Islamic State” online.
The three; Tasnim Yakub Abdullahi Farah, Fatuma Omar and Mariam, were reportedly trying to free some prisoners held at the police station.
The women who are Somali citizens appeared in court on Tuesday but the prosecution could not argue the application to have them remanded since they do not understand English or Swahili and one of them is deaf.
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