Kenyan Police Break Up Suspected ISIS Recruitment Pipeline

GOOBJOOG NEWS | NAIROBI: Kenya’s anti-terrorism police say they have dismantled what they describe as one of the most complex facilitation networks uncovered in the country, in a major step in efforts to curb extremist recruitment.

Nine suspects, including a prominent Nairobi lawyer, are expected to be charged in the coming days, following weeks of intelligence-led investigations and coordinated operations by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), officials said.

The probe was triggered by the arrest earlier this year of about ten young recruits allegedly preparing to leave Kenya. Their detention helped investigators map out a wider network that officers say channels radicalised youth from Kenya through Puntland in northern Somalia and onward to Yemen, where ISIS-linked cells operate.

“It operates like a conveyor belt,” a senior ATPU officer said. “Kenya is the corridor. Once they reach Puntland, arrangements are made to move them across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen to link up with ISIS affiliates.”

Investigators say the lawyer, known for representing terror suspects, first came into contact with the network while defending radicalised youths in court. Over time, they allege, he shifted from providing legal services to taking part in the facilitation chain.

Authorities claim some of his legal fees came from extremist financiers and that he later helped coordinate elements of the recruitment and transit operation.

He is expected to face charges including terror financing, membership in a terrorist organisation and involvement in a criminal network, with final counts to be confirmed when the suspects appear in court.