There are devastating revelations that a new breed of terror recruits is emerging following January 2019 Dusit terror attack.
Profiles of key suspects in connection with the attack point to the worrying trend of a new generation of Kenyan jihadists, according to analysts.
Police are hunting Violet Kemunto Omwoyo, described as a Christian convert to Islam, after felling her ‘husband’ Ali Salim Gichunge, the suspected mastermind of the January 15 attack on the Dusit hotel and office complex that left 21 dead.
Their background and ethnic origins are starkly different from that of typical Kenyan members recruited in the past by Al-Shabaab.
Somalia’s Al-Qaeda affiliate has mainly used recruits from Kenya’s ethnic Somali community or coastal Muslim communities.
In addition, Shabaab’s major previous attacks in Kenya, against the Westgate shopping mall in 2013, which left 67 dead, and the University of Garissa in 2015 in which 148 people died, were planned in Somalia.
“Unlike previous attacks that had aspects of external planning and involvement, this particular incident points to local planning,” and includes converts from Christianity, a senior police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The revelations send a signal that more needs to be done to counter terrorism activities in the country.