A
lorry with 27 tonnes of chemicals used in making bombs was yesterday
seized by administration police on the Dadajabula-Dif Road in Wajir.
Speaking to the Star on the phone, Wajir county commissioner
Naftali Mung’athia said the truck from Mombasa had 7000 kilogrammes of
sodium sulphate, 7000 kilogrammes of basic chromium sulphate, 3000
kilogrammes of sodium formate, 3000 kilogrammes of sodium bicarbonate,
2500 kilogrammes of soda ash and 5000 kilogrammes of microzyme-P.
Mung'athia said they suspect the chemicals were being taken to Somalia to be used by al-Shabaab militants.
“If these materials crossed over to Somalia, it would have dealt a
serious blow to our efforts to curb rising al-Shabaab attacks as the
explosives may have been used against KDF forces and others would have
been brought into the to wreak havoc,” he said.
Mung'athia said police in Wajir also found six containers of contraband sugar, tyres and spaghetti. “We have all these items and are deliberating on our next move ,” he said.
He commended the officers who seized the lorry and the KDF
soldiers at the Kenya–Somalia border. "Their hard work is starting to
pay off," Mung'athia said.
He said officers working with smugglers and al-Shaabab sympathisers will be arrested and charged.
Bomb experts have taken samples of the chemicals for tests at the
government lab in Nairobi, The tests will establish the range of
explosives that could be made from them.
The lorry belongs to a Garissa businessman is being under 24-hour police surveillance.
The incident comes a months after police recovered over 10 AK47s, 20
hand grenades and explosives buried at a cemetery in Wajir town.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-125166/police-seize-bomb-chemicals-wajir#sthash.HVo90z32.dpuf