The wife of an Al-Shabaab fugitive has escaped to Somalia after evading a police dragnet. Ms Rukia Mbarak Faraj, who is married to Al-Shabaab fighter Ramadhan Kufungwa, was last spotted at Daadab Refugee Camp but escaped after police linked her to a terrorist cell there.
Police had on August 27 offered Sh2 million to anybody who could provide information leading to her arrest.
While at the refugee camp, police established that she had been facilitating the movement of young men and women to and from Al-Shabaab strongholds in Somalia.
She was also wanted for smuggling weapons, including explosives into Kenya.
“During her escape, she managed to traffic four young men with her,” a government report seen by the Saturday Nation said.
It added: “Rukia is the wife of notorious criminal and terrorist Ramadhan Kufungwa who is wanted for the killing of sheikhs and Muslim security agents at the Coast. He is currently in hiding with the Al-Shabaab.”
YOUNGSTERS ARRESTED
Meanwhile, police have arrested three youngsters they believe had been lured to join Al-Shabaab.
They were arrested at the Coast on August 25 and 27, as they attempted to join Jeshi Ayman, the Kenyan Al-Shabaab faction based in Boni forest.
Their families contacted the police leading to their arrest and the teenagers aged between 14 and 16 were flown to Nairobi where they are in custody.
The report said of them: “In mid July while at a video game shop near Pumwani Riyadha Mosque, Majengo, where they spent a lot of their time, the boys were convinced by a friend to attend Islamic studies at a madrassa in Kisauni. The friend had brochures advertising the school and the teaching they would receive.”
The report noted it was not the first time the three boys had attempted to join Al-Shabaab and called for concrete action to stop them.
-nairobinews.co.ke