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Kenya Charges 70 Youth With being Al Shabaab Members

Kenya Charges 70 Youth With being Al Shabaab Members

Written by Joseph Akwiri |From Reuters

A Kenyan court on Wednesday charged 70 people with being members of Somali militant group al Shabaab, after they were arrested during a police raid on a mosque that sparked days of rioting in Mombasa.

The 70 denied being members of the Islamist group, which is linked to al Qaeda, and others relating to terrorism, possession of arms, robbery and incitement to violence in a crowded courtroom 10 km (six miles) outside the port city.

They were arrested when armed policemen swooped on the Masjid Mussa mosque in Mombasa on February 2, saying they had information that Muslim youths were being recruited there for militant attacks.

Police said three people were killed in the raid, and recovered an AK 47 rifle, ammunition, swords, knives, video discs and flags which they said bore the symbols of al Shabaab.

They arrested 129 suspects, but released 21 after a court declared them minors, and a further 33 against whom the court found no evidence.

Read more at Reuters