Revealed: Secrets of Dusit D2 terror attack

They went to the extent of tracing where the attackers were born, their families, and what they did on the day before and during the attack.

Police Constable Titus Lang'at was the man who put the pieces and bits together, which led to the arrest of Mire Abdullahi, Hussein Mohammed, and Mohamed Ali.

He was a witness testifying on Tuesday in a case where Abdullahi, Hussein and Ali are accused of committing acts of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorism acts, and conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.

In his testimony, Mr Lang'at told High Court judge Diana Mochache that at least 177 SIM cards were collected from Muchatha in Kiambu County, and a mobile phone from Ali Salim Gichunge aided investigators to trace the attack from Jilib, Somalia.

Jilib, the court heard, is the operations base for al-Shabab. "If we can stop this menace then we need to also look at facilitators and the financiers," said Lang'at.

Lang'at first identified the attackers. He said Gichunge, who was commandeering the rest, had rented a house at Muchatha and lived with his wife, Violete Kemunto.

The court heard that Mahir Khaled Riziki or Gabriel Simba was the suicide bomber. The others were Osman Gedi, Adan Mohamed Noor, and Siad Omar Abdi.

One of the attackers at Dusit D2. The terrorists travelled together in the same car to Dusit D2 on the day of the attack. [File, Standard]

Omar was a refugee from Dagahaley, He was born in Somalia in 1992, while Gedi was born the same year in Mandera East.

Meanwhile, Noor was an unknown person. His identity was revealed from a mobile phone retrieved from Gichunge.

The investigator said that Gichunge received a total of Sh806,900 through M-Pesa.

According to Lang'at, the last amount wired, allegedly from Ali, happened a day before the attack. It was in two tranches of Sh70,000 and Sh69,500.

The investigator, however, was hard pressed to explain the link between Ali and Gichunge.

Quizzed by Ali's lawyer Chacha Mwita whether Ali communicated with Gichunge, the officer stated that there were no calls or texts. Only the money transfer linked the two.

"It was only him who sent the money to Gichunge," Lang'at testified.

According to Mwita, Ali was in the money exchange business and he has sent the money to Gichunge on behalf of one Yussuf Ali Noor.

But Lang'at asserted that there was evidence to connect Ali to the attack financing for three months from November 2018 to January 2019 when the attack happened.

Recce compnay officers comb through Dusit D2 hotel in January 2018. Al-Shabaab suspects stormed the hotel and killed 25 people. [File, Standard]

The officer alleged that the same mobile phone number that was printed on the parcel was the same one that was found with Mohammed.

"Was there communication between the three accused persons?" Chacha asked.

"No, your honour," Lang'at replied.

Meanwhile, the court heard that Mahir travelled from Elwak to Nairobi, then Muchatha. Elwak is a town in Kenya, on the border with Somalia.

Gedi, on the other hand, lived in Nairobi. His last location before going to Muchatha was traced at Mirema Drive in Roysambu.

Omar, the other attacker, was said to have travelled from Dagahaley camp on January 3, 2019 and arrived in Nairobi 10 days later. He also ended up being hosted by Gichunge in Muchatha.

Another terrorist was also said to have travelled from Dagahaley to Eastleigh before joining Gichunge.

Gichunge, Omar, Gedi and Noor also travelled together in the same car to Dusit D2 on the day of the attack.