Kenya’s security agencies accused Iranian national Mohammed Saeid Golabi of ties to terror activities in Kenya and its neighboring countries. The Star reported on Sunday (Exclusive: Police uncover terror plans by an Iranian national in Kenya).
According to police, Golabi is a frequent flyer to Kenya and the region and has been at the center of terror plans that target local and Israeli interests in Kenya. Several police sources have told the Star that they have been monitoring Golabi and his local associates, and are convinced that the Iranian is connected to terrorist activities. A senior Anti-Terrorism Police Unit official told the Star: “We have profiled him and his contacts over time. We have enough reason to believe that he has been working with those terror groups.”
In 2012, two Iranians were arrested in Kenya and charged with preparation to commit a felony, and possession of explosives without a license.
The report on Golabi is part of the increased security operations in Kenya following the recent escape of three security prisoners from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, the largest maximum-security prison in Kenya. The three escaping terrorists are Musharaf Abdalla, who was convicted of attempting to attack the parliament in 2012; Joseph Juma Odhiambo, who was arrested in 2019 at the border between Kenya and Somalia for planning to join the terror group al-Shabab; and Mohamed Abdi Abikar, who was convicted his role in for al-Shabab’s attack on Garissa University in April 2015 that killed 148 people. The three were captured on their way to Somalia to join the al Shabaab terror group.
In 2015, Kenya’s security agencies arrested two terrorists – Abubakar Sadiq Louw, 69, and Yassin Sambai Juma, 25 – who had links to Iran and confessed to plotting attacks on Western targets in the country. They were charged with terrorism and espionage for Iranian intelligence. According to Kenya’s media, the two “admitted to conspiring to mount terror attacks” targeting “hotels in Nairobi frequently used by Western tourists, businessmen, and diplomats.” They were described as working in the service of the Quds Force under the command of Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the US in 2020.