The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist group has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack on a police station in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa, Reuters reports.
On Sunday morning, three women dressed in Islamic robes entered Mombasa Central Police Station, where they fatally stabbed a male police officer and exploded a petrol bomb.
Two days later, an agency affiliated with Islamic State claimed that the three women were ISIS sympathizers.
“The perpetrators of the attack on the Kenyan police in the city of Mombasa were supporters of Islamic State. They executed the operation in response to calls to target crusader states,” the agency said.
An eye witness told Kenyan media that the three assailants walked in to the police station, which is located at the center of Mombasa city, pretending to report a stolen phone. They then brandished knives and started attacking officers on duty.
The three were later shot dead by police officers who responded to the attack. Police said they recovered two suicide belts from the attackers.
New Revelations
As the Kenyan police continue to investigate Sunday’s attack, new details on the three female assailants have emerged.
The three have been identified as Ramla Abdulrahman Hussein, Maimuna Abdulrahman Hussein, and Tasnim Yakub Abdullahi Farah, according to the Standard.
It has also emerged that the three women had a death wish and harbored deep hatred for the Kenyan government for allegedly clamping down on Muslim youths and sheikhs in several mosques in Mombasa.
Ramla was set to join a university in Mombasa this year. She and her accomplice Tasnim are reported to have completed their high school education at Qubaa Secondary School in Majengo in 2015.
Third assailant Maimuna also studied at the same school and sat for her Kenya Secondary School Certificate in 2013.
Terror in Kenya
Since October 2011, when Kenya sent its troops to Somalia to fight Al-Shabab, the Al-Qaeda-linked terror group has been staging numerous retaliatory attacks on Kenyans in an attempt to force the Kenyan government to pull its troops out of Somalia.
Some of the deadliest terror attacks in Kenya include the Garissa University attack, where more than 150 people were killed; the Mpeketoni Massacre, which claimed more than 60 people; and the Westgate Mall shooting, which left at least 67 people dead.
Kenya has vowed to remain in Somalia until its national security and other interests are protected.
