Two of the women who attacked the Mombasa Central police station were sisters, it has emerged. Their father said they told him they were going to shop for Eid Ul-Adha celebrations
Tasneem Fara and Fatuma Omar changed their names in an apparent effort to conceal their identities. Tasneem changed her name to Ramla Hussein, while Fatuma changed hers to Meimuna Abdulrahman.
The two were students at Iqra Academy but Fara transferred to Qubaa Academy and sat her form four exams last year. She was to join the Technical University of Mombasa this year. Investigators said Omar completed her high school studies in 2013.
Their father said the two didn’t like having their photographs taken.
Police said the father was not living with the sisters in the same house, which was a family house, in which also some three Somali refugees were found and arrested.
Detectives are also reviewing footage of CCTV cameras of shops within the area, to check on the finer details shortly before the attack at the Central Police Station, which does not have any security cameras.
“We are also going to talk to the top management of Qubaa Muslim school, to check if there are any vulnerable students and also how well they knew the suspect,” said an officer in the investigations.
In the court, State counsel Erick Masila said one of the suspects was deaf and therefore required a language interpreter.
Masila asked the court to avail a Somali translator and a sign interpreter.
Resident magistrate Emmanuel Mutunga ordered the court to avail both the interpreter and translator as it is the accused constitutional right to understand court proceedings, and further directed the case to be mentioned on Wednesday.
The police are expected to file a miscellaneous application asking the court to allow them detain the suspects for 30 days to finish their investigations.
They are investigating whether the suspects were involved in the planning of the foiled terror attack.
Tasnim, who is said to be the leader of the gang, was shot dead alongside Fatuma and another female terror suspect, with police believing that they had been radicalised online, and assisted by a local terror cell to carry out the attack.
At the same time, HAKI Africa organisation has called on the families and friends of the 3three slain women to come forward and identify and claim the bodies.
“As an organisation, we have received concerns from Muslims regarding burial rites which according to Islam, should be done soonest possible. We therefore urge families to come forward and cooperate with police so that the bodies can be released for burial,” said the organisation’s Executive Director Khalid Hussein.
They said in the event any family is afraid to pick the bodies, they should approach them (Haki Africa), for assistance and linking them with police, to establish what is required for them to get the bodies for burial.
