Kenya Police Seize Weapons in Fresh Mosque Raids
Kenyan security forces on Wednesday carried out fresh raids on mosques in the port city of Mombasa searching for weapons and supporters of Somalia's Shebab militants, police said.
Grenades, ammunition and petrol bombs were seized in raids on the Swafaa and Minaa mosques, taking the total to four mosques searched since Monday in the tense city, officers said.
Local police chief Richard Ngatia said 110 people were arrested, adding to more than 250 arrested on Monday.
"There was obviously a lot more than just prayers and sermons taking place," he said.
Security forces cordoned off streets around the mosque and soldiers patrolled the Kisuani district of the city, east Africa's main port, an Agence France Presse reporter said.
The action comes just two days after police raided and closed the Musa and Sakina mosques in the same city in a search for weapons and radical supporters of the Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab.
One person was shot dead as they tried to throw a grenade at police on Monday.
Police seized hand grenades and a pistol, and arrested more than 250 people. Black Islamist flags, such as those flown by the Shebab, were also found.
Four people were stabbed to death in apparent revenge attacks on Monday, with gangs taking to the streets beating some and knifing others.
- Revenge attacks -
"I want to make it clear that houses of worship cannot and shall not be taken over by criminals or used for criminal activities, including terrorism," Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said in a statement late Tuesday.
The raids have raised tensions in a city already hit by a string of bombings and shootings.
Thirteen of those arrested on Monday have been charged with possession of explosive materials and pleaded not guilty.
Others held in the mass arrests were still being questioned.
"I want to assure Kenyans that this process will separate those with criminal intent from the innocent Kenyans who will be released immediately," Lenku added.
Hussein Khalid, from the Mombasa-based civil society group HAKI Africa, warned Wednesday that "forceful and violent strategies only act to heighten tension in what already is a volatile situation."
While accepting that grenades had been found, he also said police had a "reputation" among some Kenyans of planting evidence - claims the security forces have repeatedly denied.
Police refusal to take off their shoes while enterings mosques had angered many, he added.
"It is very disturbing to note that the police are making it their modus operandi to raid places of worship and violate the fundamental rights and freedoms of worshippers," he said.
Western nations have warned their nationals to avoid all but essential travel to Mombasa, a key transport hub as well as an important tourist centre for the country's Indian Ocean coastline.
Kenya has suffered a series of attacks since invading Somalia in 2011 to attack the Shebab, later joining an African Union force battling the Islamists.
The Shebab carried out the September 2013 attack on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall, killing at least 67 people as a warning to Kenya to pull its troops out of southern Somalia.
Several Islamic preachers have been shot dead in Mombasa in recent years in alleged extra-judicial killings by security forces and power struggles between rival Muslim factions. Churches have also been attacked.
Source: Agence France Presse
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