Mombasa county commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo has assured residents of adequate security ahead of the December holidays and the 2022 electioneering.
At the weekend, the county was on high alert following an alleged leaked document purportedly from the county commissioner’s office informing of a looming terror attack.
The document, dated October 29, 2021, says the Coast region has witnessed a growing number of ISIS and al Shabaab terror group returnees, some of whom were planning to carry out terror-related attacks between this month and December.
However, Kitiyo dismissed the document as fake, saying the region’s security is good. In a telephone interview with the Star on Monday morning, Kitiyo described the letter as a forgery, saying there was no cause for alarm.
Kitiyo, however, urged residents to stay alert and cautious and be ready to share any information concerning security with the police.
"The letter is fake and a forgery, it did not come from my office as purported so there is no reason to be scared in the county. However, it is important for people to be cautious of their security.”
The letter was widely circulated on social media. It named two suspects, with one said to be hiding in the Likoni area having recently entered the country through Tanzania.
The other suspect was said to be an al Shabaab operative who had been in Somalia for nine years but was now in a hideout in the Darling area of Ukunda, Kwale county.
The two were said to be plotting attacks on security installations, frequent public areas, public service vehicles and other vulnerable points.
The terror threats came barely a week after Uganda's capital Kampala suffered a terror attack said to have been coordinated by the Islamic State terror group, which claimed responsibility. At least one person died in the bomb attack.
The group said some of its members detonated an explosive device in a bar in Kampala, leaving one dead and two others injured.
Two months ago, detectives in Mombasa foiled an attempted attack after they arrested two terror suspects at the Likoni Ferry crossing channel.
The operation was carried out by Special Forces and the Anti-Terror Police Unit. The two were cornered and arrested as they tried to flee on foot after abandoning their car.
They were said to be from Lungalunga and had been trailed by the police, who recovered two AK-47 rifles, bullets, machetes, cables and other items for making explosives. They also recovered a map indicating places they had planned to attack.
Reports stated that the two were planning to attack a security installation in an attempt to free an accomplice who was in police custody.
