Tanzania: Suspected Al-shabaab Militants Killed in Arusha
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 18 March 2016 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 6 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Tanzania: Suspected Al-shabaab Militants Killed in Arusha, 18 March 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 6, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56f1627b4.html [accessed 22 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Tanzanian police killed three suspected militants on February 28 in a shootout in the northern town of Arusha. Police in the Engosheraton area of Sinoni Ward appear to have been alerted to "suspicious persons" in the area by local residents, and a firefight broke out when they visited the house where the three were meeting (Tanzania Daily News, March 1). A woman, thought to be the wife of one of those killed, was arrested following the raid.
Initial reports described the men only as criminals, but latter the authorities announced they had found flags emblazoned with Arabic inscriptions - possibly those of Somali group al-Shabaab - at the scene (Arusha Times, Issue 0896). Police also reportedly recovered an AK-47 rifle with 18 rounds of ammunition, a motorcycle, five army uniforms, face masks, a selection of mobile phones, and a karate outfit (Daily Nation, March 2).
Compared to its East African neighbors, Tanzania has seen relatively little militant activity over the years. In April of 2015, police arrested 10 people in a raid on a mosque in Kilombelo District in Morogoro Region in the southwest, recovering explosives and an al-Shabaab flag (The Citizen, April 16, 2015). A spate of grenade attacks in 2014 that struck bars and restaurants in Arusha supposedly ended with an October 2014 police shooting dead the alleged "mastermind," Yahya Hassan Omari Hela (who was, incidentally, alleged to be a karate trainer) (The Citizen, October 21, 2014). Meanwhile the UN's Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea has linked Tanzania's Ansar Muslim Youth Centre with al-Qaeda's East African affiliates (UN, S/2013/413) and suggested similar ties for the Boko Haram-linked Association for Islamic Mobilization and Propagation (Uamsho), led by Farid Hadi Ahmed, on the island of Zanzibar.
There is discontent among the Muslim-majority island, but the current simmering unrest is largely connected to last October's annulled elections. The elections have been rescheduled for later this month despite the demands of the opposition Civic United Front (CUF), which claimed it was on the path to victory. Zanzibar has seen several attacks, notably small grenade attacks on the island of Unguja (ETN, February 26, 2014) and an acid attack in 2013 on two British teenagers working as volunteer teachers (BBC, August 8, 2013), for which Uamsho members were later arrested.
These incidents indicate the potential for extremist activity, but the Tanzanian authorities maintain a relatively effective street-level intelligence network. The fact Tanzania has refrained from contributing troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has likely served to insulate it somewhat from al-Shabaab, although Kenyan authorities recently arrested two Tanzanian militants during an operation against the group in the Boni forest (Daily Nation, October 23).
