Canadian Among Suspects in Nairobi Terrorist Attack

A judge ordered the five suspects held for 30 days while authorities look into the assault on the dusitD2 hotel complex. The al-Shabab terrorist group, which is linked to al-Qaida and based in neighbouring Somalia, claimed responsibility. Kenyan authorities say 21 people, including one police officer, were killed by the attackers, one of whom blew himself up beside a restaurant. Another four gunmen died. Prosecutors suspect the alleged accomplices, including two taxi drivers and an agent for a mobile phone-based money service, of “aiding and betting” the attackers who stormed the Nairobi complex on the afternoon of Jan. 15 and were killed by the morning of Jan. 16, according to a court document. Prosecutors said they were pursuing more suspects in and outside Kenya.

(L-R) suspects Osman Ibrahim, Canadian Guleid Abdihakim, Gladys Kaari Justus, Oliver Kanyango Muthee, and Joel Nganga Wainaina appear at a hearing at Milimani law courts in Nairobi, Kenya, on Jan. 18, 2019. AP Photo

NAIROBI, Kenya—A Canadian national and four other people suspected of helping extremist gunmen stage a deadly attack in the Kenyan capital this week appeared in court on Jan. 18 as prosecutors investigated them for suspected terror offences.

A judge ordered the five suspects held for 30 days while authorities look into the assault on the dusitD2 hotel complex. The al-Shabab terrorist group, which is linked to al-Qaida and based in neighbouring Somalia, claimed responsibility. Kenyan authorities say 21 people, including one police officer, were killed by the attackers, one of whom blew himself up beside a restaurant. Another four gunmen died.