Police have arrested a suspected terrorism mastermind believed to have been recruiting youth to join terror groups Al-Shabaab and Islamic State (ISIS).
The suspect, according to law enforcement agencies is also said to have been involved in financing terrorism activities in more than five countries.
Citizen Digital reported on Friday that Ali Hussein Ali has been on police radar and his arrest marks a major milestone in the fight against terrorism which has crippled the tourism sector in the country.
Police Spokesperson George Kinoti said Ali has links with ISIS and A-Shabaab terror groups and was a member of the Magafe human smuggling network in Libya.
The suspect was nabbed together with his accomplices Ibrahim Abasheikh Mukhtar and Abdi Mohamed Yusuf aka Dader in Malindi during a joint operation carried out by security agencies on March 27, 2017," Kinoti said as quoted by Citizen Digital.
He said Ali was born in Mogadishu in Somalia but has been running his activities in the Coast region.
According to Kinoti, Ali moved to Kenya in 2010 as a tourist then to South Africa, Sudan and finally ended up in Libya where he joined ISIS.
Detectives interrogating him said Ali popularly known as the 'Trusted One' is behind the transfer of money to the ISIS network in South Sudan, Dubai, Somalia and Libya.
At the time of his arrest, he was demanding USD639,000 which is equivalent to Sh64 million from ISIS leaders Kinoti said.
[Terrorism suspect Ali Hussein who was arrested by the police in Malindi. He is said to be handling finances for the terrorism group.] citizentv.co.ke