Tanzania arrests youth recruited by Somali militants,” by Christopher Kidanka, The East African, December 1, 2020
The breakaway faction of Somalia militants, Ahlu Sunna wa Jama, is recruiting youth in southern Tanzania to train and join terror cells in Mozambique.
Ahlu Sunna wa Jama — moderate Sufis opposed to the mainly Sunni radical Islamist groups — has been operating in the region since 2005.
Tanzania’s Inspector General of Police Simon Sirro said on Thursday that the police have arrested youth from groups that had been recruited from the western regions of Mwanza and Kigoma, and who have confessed to being the ring leaders in the insurgency.
“Some were nabbed enroute to Mozambique to join the jihadists. The game plan is that they would later join their colleagues who had fled Tanzania,” said Mr Sirro.
It is still not clear whether the recruits are supposed to return to Tanzania as sleeper cells or are going to join jihadists elsewhere….
