Kenya jails suspected Al-Shabaab spy

Police seal off roads near Kenya's Supreme Court in Nairobi, Kenya November 20, 2017. /Reuters

NAIROBI, Kenya - A court in Kenya has jailed a man suspected to be an informer of Al-Shabaab terrorists after he admitted to being in the East African nation illegally, in the latest high-profile security-related judgment which also exposes the country's porous border.

The man, Alion Edin Marsack, was arrested at Wargadud township of Mandera along the Kenya-Somalia border on 21st April and was subsequently detained at Elwak Police Station according to court documents.

He was arraigned at a Mandera Court on two counts of being in the country illegally and entering the country through a place that is not designated as a point of entry or exit, the police report confirmed.

Despite the three-year imprisonment for being in the country illegally, detectives are still investigating what the convict might have been up to in the country. He was arrested following a tip-off from hawk-eyed members of the public who also suspected his presence.

During his interrogation by detectives from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, Marsack confessed that he was recruited by the terror group in 2018. He told detectives that he had undergone various training including collecting information for facilitating attacks.

According to detectives, he might have been sent from El-Adde to do surveillance in the country before carrying out an attack. The 39-year-old mason reportedly admitted to having participated in five Al-Shabaab attacks within the Gedo region of Somalia.

The Al-Shabaab militants are on the receiving end from Somalia with the country now set to launch the second phase of operations against the group. Kenya is fully participating in efforts to stabilize Somalia having contributed over 3,500 soldiers to the country.

GAROWE ONLINE