INTERPOL: 37 terror suspects arrested in East African operation


LYON, France – An international counter-terrorism operation in East Africa has led to the arrest of 37 suspects and the seizure of both small arms and heavy weapons. Those arrested include suspected members of ISIS, Al Shabaab and several foreign terrorist fighters.

Arrests were made across eight East African countries during a joint INTERPOL and AFRIPOL operation (November-December 2024) aimed at identifying and arresting suspects with links to terrorism and strengthening key border controls. In Kenya, police arrested 17 people including two suspected ISIS members, several foreign terrorist fighters and others involved in terrorism financing, radicalization and propaganda.

Read more…
Source: INTERPOL


Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter


Related:

  • Pakistan: Four police officers among 9 injured in IED blast in Lakki Marwat

    April 1, 2026

    Nine people, including four cops, were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in the Serai Naurang town of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Wednesday, according to police. District police spokesperson Qudratullah Khan told Dawn that the explosion occurred on the busy Bannu-DI Khan Road near a fruit and vegetable market. He said that ...

  • California: Explosion that killed LA County deputies involved serious safety violations

    April 1, 2026

    A state investigation has found that the deaths of three Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in a grenade explosion last year involved “willful” and serious safety violations in the department, including failure to provide effective training and leaving explosives unattended. California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health issued eight citations resulting in about $350,000 in fines ...

  • Singapore: WWII bomb to be neutralised on Thursday morning

    April 1, 2026

    A World War II bomb found during construction works will be disposed of in a controlled operation by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit on Thursday. In a statement, Singapore Police Force (SPF) said it had received a report of a war relic discovered at a construction site along Tanah Merah Coast ...

  • Northern Ireland: Hijacked car driven to police station in Lurgan contained improvised bomb

    March 31, 2026

    Irish nationalist ​militants were likely behind the hijacking and placing of an improvised explosive ‌device in a food delivery vehicle that was ordered to drive to a Northern Irish police station before the device was made safe, police said on Tuesday. The fast food delivery driver was forced to stop ​by two masked men at around ...

  • Somalia: Federal government troops seize control of Baidoa following heavy fighting

    March 30, 2026

    Federal government troops, backed by armed groups aligned with opposition groups in Southwest State, entered Baidoa on Monday following heavy fighting with Southwest regional state administration. Residents reported intense gunfire on the outskirts of the town earlier in the day as the rival forces battled for control of key positions in the interim administrative capital. The ...

  • Malta: Armed Forces detonate World War II bombs found in Rabat and Birżebbuġa

    March 29, 2026

    Over the weekend, an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team from the Armed Forces of Malta were called out to two reports of unexploded World War II ammunition. Yesterday evening, the EOD Team responded to a call in a residence in Rabat following a report of a suspected item of wartime origin. The item was identified as a ...

  • France: Authorities detained two more suspects over foiled Paris Bank of America attack

    March 29, 2026

    French authorities have arrested two more suspects over a ​foiled attack on Bank of America’s Paris offices, the country’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said ‌on Sunday. “Two further individuals were taken into police custody last night as part of the investigation launched on March 28, 2026 into the offences committed against Bank of America,” the prosecutor’s office ...

  • Pakistan: CTD arrests 36 suspects in Punjab operations

    March 28, 2026

    The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has conducted 366 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across Punjab over the past month, resulting in the arrest of 36 suspected militants, officials said on Saturday. The large-scale crackdown was part of ongoing efforts to counter militant activity and maintain law and order in the province. During the raids, authorities apprehended two high-risk suspects ...

  • France: Police thwart ‘terror attack’ at Bank of America building in Paris

    March 28, 2026

    Authorities in France are investigating an attempted terror attack in which a man allegedly tried to detonate an explosive device in Paris, according to officials. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez congratulated French police for thwarting the “violent” attack in Paris overnight Saturday. Police had noticed two men with a shopping bag outside the building, RTL France, ...

  • Iowa: Cedar Rapids Metro bomb squad seeks federal funds to replace aging bomb gear

    March 27, 2026

    Cedar Rapids Metro bomb squad is one step closer to receiving federal funds to replace aging gear. The city of Cedar Rapids released a press release saying Congresswoman Ashley Hinson announced the funding request from the Cedar Rapids-Metro Hazardous Devices Unit (HDU) has been selected to move forward in the federal process. City officials say they ...

  • Cyprus: Bomb destroys florists’ storefront in Limassol

    March 26, 2026

    A bomb exploded at a florists in Limassol in the early hours of Thursday, causing extensive damage to the shopfront. The police said an improvised explosive device was detonated at around 1.30am on Thursday outside the flower shop belonging to a 49-year-old woman. The blast caused extensive damage to the shop’s display window and two vehicles ...

  • Florida: 2 charged in connection with alleged explosive device at MacDill Air Force Base

    March 26, 2026

    The FBI has announced charges against a brother and sister in connection with an alleged improvised explosive device that was found near the visitors center at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida last week. The device was placed near the visitor’s center of MacDill Air Force Base on the evening of March 10, but was only ...

  • Portugal: March for Life in Lisbon attacked with an explosive device

    March 25, 2026

    A man has been arrested by police in connection to an attack on the March for Life in Lisbon, Portugal, on Saturday when an improvised explosive device was thrown into a crowd of attendees. According to a statement by the Public Security Police (PSP), at the time of the attack around 500 people were gathered outside ...

  • Netherlands: More video, arrests and tip-offs about Zuidas business district explosion suspects

    March 24, 2026

    Amsterdam police have published footage of one of the two men suspected of planting explosives outside an office complex in the city’s Zuidas business district on March 16. The footage was broadcast during television crime show Opsporing Verzocht and features a young man in dark clothes with a rucksack arriving with another on a fatbike. The ...

  • India: Large number of crude bombs found in poll-bound West Bengal

    March 24, 2026

    A large number of crude bombs were found in the North 24 Parganas district of poll-bound West Bengal on Tuesday, police said. A total of 22 crude bombs were discovered at a house in the Haroa police station area, they said. A large quantity of bomb-making materials was also seized from the house, they added. The ...

  • Ukraine: Two law enforcement officers injured in terrorist attack in Bucha

    March 23, 2026

    Law enforcement officers have formally notified a 21-year-old resident of the city of Bucha in Kyiv region of suspicion in connection with committing a terrorist act. The investigation established that in March of this year, a Russian special service recruited the suspect through an online game. He maintained contact with a handler via a messenger app, ...

  • Netherlands: Escaped prisoner suspected of explosive robberies arrested in Utrecht

    March 23, 2026

    A 32-year-old man who escaped from the Diakonessenhuis in Utrecht on Friday was arrested later that evening. The man, identified as Nabil S., is a known figure in the Netherlands’ explosive robbery circuit, according to De Telegraaf. Authorities say Nabil S. was previously linked to a series of explosive and ram raids in 2013 in Beuningen, ...

  • Philippines: Police recovers firearms, explosives in Nueva Ecija

    March 23, 2026

    Police recovered firearms, explosives, and ammunition in Barangay Bugnan, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija over the weekend. The operation stemmed from information provided by a former Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) member who voluntarily surrendered on March 12, 2026. Acting on the intelligence report, elements of the Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office (NEPPO), including the 1st Provincial Mobile Force ...

  • Nigeria: Troops apprehend 20 suspected drug peddlers in Yenagoa, defuse six IEDs in South-east

    March 22, 2026

    Troops of Operation Delta Safe, working in collaboration with operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have arrested 20 suspected drug peddlers and recovered illicit substances during coordinated operations in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. The arrests formed part of a series of intelligence-led operations targeting criminal ...

  • Michigan: A look at the fireworks company that sold products to two suspected terrorists this month

    March 21, 2026

    Shortly after a man attacked a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, earlier this month, William Weimer received a call from employees at a Phantom Fireworks store in nearby Livonia. Agents at the store told Weimer, Phantom’s vice president and general counsel for over three decades, they had a subpoena for information on the suspect in the ...

  • UK: Man caught with stash of weapons in Abergwynfi

    March 20, 2026

    A man has pleaded guilty to possessing a haul of weapons including a Ninja sword, a knuckle duster, and extendable batons. Maximin Carter was arrested on February 15 on suspicion of attempting to make an explosive after emergency services – including a bomb disposal team – were called to a house on Commercial Street in Abergwynfi ...

  • Russia: Explosion rips through bank entrance in Northeastern Moscow

    March 19, 2026

    An explosion ripped through a branch of the state lender Rosselkhozbank in northeastern Moscow on Thursday. Interior Ministry spokeswoman Irina Volk said “unlawful actions” took place on Mezhninskaya Ulitsa in the capital’s Babushkinsky District. She said police arrested a person of interest and were investigating the incident. The Moscow branch of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office ...