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Two Al Shabaab ‘brides’ arrested in Garissa


A Kenyan and a Tanzanian women and their three young children, are being held by police after their arrest in Garissa as they attempted to sneak into Somalia to join Al Shabaab.

Ms Fatuma Bariki Makame, 28 and Ms Swabra Abdallah, 23, were lured by the terror group through the Internet with promises of bliss in marriage to militants.

They were travelling with their children aged seven, four and two years when they were arrested.

A security report seen by the Sunday Nation said the two linked up at Ukunda, South Coast, on August 12.

“These arrests are part of an on-going investigation by police on the network of Al Shabaab recruiters targeting young men and women. Disappearance of young Kenyan men and women has been of great concern,” the report said.

“Out of this, parents have been working closely with security authorities by reporting those who may have travelled to Somalia to join Al Shabaab terrorists.”

STORIES OF HORROR

We could not immediately establish who the secret government report was addressed to.

It also had the photographs of Ms Makame, the Tanzanian, and Ms Abdallah. The two are “helping police with investigations,” the report added.

“It is suspected that the two women, who were travelling with young children, were lured by Al Shabaab militants who sought to marry them. There are those who have managed to flee back to Kenya and have told stories of horror in Somalia,” the report also said.

Meanwhile, two women who fled from Al Shabaab in April this year after being wives of Al Shabaab fighters have undergone rehabilitation and rejoined their families.

The Garissa arrest comes barely a week after another government report showed at least six schools are on security watch because a number of students have dropped out to join terror organisations in Somalia and Syria.