Kenyan police have arrested two Iranians on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks in concert with al-Shabaab, the extremist group based in southern Somalia.
One of the suspects led police to a large cache of chemicals on Friday that officers believe could have been used to make explosives. The material was hidden at a golf club in the port city of Mombasa.
A senior anti-terrorism officer told The Daily Telegraph that the two men “were planning to help al-Shabaab carry out revenge attacks in Kenya because of the Kenya Defence Forces’ incursion inside Somalia”. Security sources said the men were suspected of planning attacks in Mombasa or Nairobi.
Last year, Kenya launched a military operation across the border into Somalia to try and crush al-Shabaab, after a wave of kidnappings of foreigners had severely damaged the tourism industry.
Since then, a series of attacks has taken place in Kenyan cities. The latest – a large bomb that exploded in central Nairobi – wounded more than 30 people, one of whom later died.
Police arrested the Iranians on Wednesday in Nairobi, with an official accusing the men of having links to a “wider network of terrorists”, including al-Shabaab.