Women who cover their faces will have to undergo a security check when accessing public facilities.
Mombasa county commissioner Evans Achoki said this will improve security. He said this is not a form of victimisation of Muslim women. “If you are innocent, you would not fear wearing your buibui or hijab and removing the veil when asked by security personnel,” Achoki said. He urged women to report any victimisation cases.
This comes after three women were killed in an attempted terrorist attack at Central police station in Mombasa on Sunday.
Maelo said one of the suspects had hurled a petrol bomb inside the station, starting a fire.
An officer is said to have sustained an ankle injury and another an injury to his arm. They were rushed to hospital.
The area was sealed off and a major security operation launched to find two men also said to have escaped.
A suspect was later arrested and taken into police custody.
County commander Peterson Maelo said the three, who were in hijabs, went to the station pretending they wanted to report a crime. Maelo said one took out a knife and stabbed the officer manning the report desk, forcing his colleagues to shoot them.
Two of the women were shot dead at the report office and the third one as she attempted to escape.
Many Muslim women have said they fear they may be victimised after the Sunday attack. Resident Swabrah Ahmed said Muslim women may now be tagged “terrorists”.
Ahmed said they have already started feeling the heat as they cannot go to some places while covered.
She said the buibui is a symbol of holiness and identity, which has now been soiled. Ahmed said schools and other public institutions may ban the buibui as they previously banned the hijabs. Last year, several schools were caught in a tussle with parents after their children were sent home for wearing hijabs. But last week, the Court of Appeal allowed students to wear the hijab.
Ahmed said terror cells are now using women to carry out attacks.
Detectives are investigating reports that the widow of slain and controversial Muslim cleric Sheikh Aboud Rogo is funding terrorism activities. Haniya Saggar was arrested on Wednesday.
She was interrogated by detectives at a police station in Kilifi for the better part of the day.
Cyber Crime Unit officers have confiscated Haniya Saggar’s mobile phone after reports emerged that she received an unknown amount of money from one of the women killed during the Sunday attack.
Police have also intercepted communication between one of the slain women — Ramla Hussein — and others that will aid investigations. She is believed to be the mastermind of the attack at Central police station.
Mombasa resident magistrate Emmanuel Mutunga will today rule whether to release Saggar.
Saggar was remanded at the Port police station. She is believed to have been radicalised by her husband Rogo, who was gunned down in Bamburi, Mombasa, in 2012.
Rogo faced charges of weapons possession and being an al Shabaab recruiter. On Thursday, Saggar appeared before a Mombasa court but was not allowed to take a plea after police asked for more days to interrogate her. Detectives are also investigating if British fugitive and wanted terror suspected ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite could be behind the attacks in Kenya. Multi-agency detectives in the police station attack are analysing devices found in houses the three women lived in at Kibokoni in Old Town.
Reports indicate 10 people planned the attack and the station was to be blown up and videos and pictures taken for al Shabaab social media propaganda.
Findings from the cyber crime unit show the laptops had emails and chats from international contacts. A detective said they have identified a social site on Facebook where women are being recruited.