A video clip emerged showing how a suicide bomber blew himself up at dusitD2 on January 15, 2019.Abdullahi Ogelo is the luckily alive man in a cap seen walking past the bomber just before the explosion.
Details have emerged that the blown up in smithereens, is 25-year-old Mahir Khalid Riziki who was born and brought up in Majengo area of Mombasa town.
A security source disclosed about his arrival in Kenya for the attack. On January 13, he sneaked into Kenya through Elwak in Mandera County, then to Takaba, and boarded a Moyale Raha bus in Marsabit town to Nairobi.
He then proceeded to Muchatha to link up with the attack cell leader, Ali Salim Gichunge, to receive instructions on his role.
On the day of the attack, Mahir reportedly arrived at the scene earlier but was constantly communicating with Gichunge, taking instructions and updating him on his status.
The attack strategy was for him to detonate his suicide vest to kill people at the Secret Garden restaurant and signal the incoming attackers.
Then, as people scamper for safety towards the main entrance of the complex, the other four attackers were supposed to embark on a killing spree targeting the fleeing crowd.“Thankfully, there was a timing disconnect between the suicide bomber and the foot attackers which gave room for a good number of people to escape,” says the security source.
“When I walked past him I could hear him argue on phone. He seemed to be asking where the rest of his colleagues were and his hand was moving over his chest,” Ogelo said during an interview with a local TV station.