Police kill terror suspect, two children in Kwale raid

Police in Kwale shot and killed a terror suspect during a night raid.

Two children that the suspect was using as human shields were also killed.

The suspected Al-Shabaab militant, Mohamed Mapenzi, was killed in his house in Kibundani by an elite police team.

Mapenzi is reported to have thrown a grenade at the police during the raid on Saturday night.

“As the officers were preparing to break into the suspect’s house, he suddenly opened the door and threw a grenade at them slightly injuring one of them,” reads a police report seen by the Nation.

The officers opened fire killing the suspect and the minors.

The suspect’s wife and three other children were also injured in the raid and taken to Msabweni Referral Hospital.

Sources told the Nation that an Al-Shabaab suspect, who is in police custody, took the security agents to Mapenzi’s house.

The suspect, Saidi Chitswa alias Ninja, who is believed to be an Al-Shabaab recruiter, was arrested following reports that he was planning to launch an attack at an unnamed police station.

After interrogation, Chitswa led the officers to Mapenzi's house to recover firearms.

Police said a grenade and assorted jungle uniforms were recovered from the house.

Coast Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Washington Njiru said two other suspects were arrested during the operation.

The killing of the terror suspect comes a month after two other suspects were killed in Kwale and Likoni.

The suspect in Kwale, who was identified as Suleiman Ali Kodza, was gunned down a day after he escaped a police dragnet in Mombasa.

Kodza, alias Pembe, who police had termed as Al-Shabaab ringleader in Diani was shot and killed in Ngerenya, South Coast.

Police sources say Kodza is believed to be in the same group with  Mapenzi and were planning to carry out an attack at a police station with a mission of stealing firearms.

When Kodza was killed police recovered five bullets, a machete and a knife.

Police linked him to the killing of two officers who were guarding St Paul's ACK Church in Ukunda in September 2017.