Kenyan police say they have killed four terror suspects described as most-wanted during a dawn raid on a safe house in the coastal town of Malindi.
Their names had been released to the public in December.
Matawa Muchangi, chief of police in the coastal town of Malindi, where the shoot-out happened, said one of the victims is Suleiman Mohammed Awadh, who was wanted for his alleged role in several Islamic extremist attacks, including the mass killings on a college campus in Garissa in April.
Awahd had a $20,000 bounty on his head – and police said he may have been linked to attacks in the coastal town of Mpeketoni in 2014.
He said: “The four were shot dead when they engaged our officers on a shoot-out and even threw grenades at them.”
He said police recovered explosives, arms and mobile phones as well as maps detailing future targets for attack.
The gun battle in Malindi broke out after the suspects refused to surrender and threw a grenade at officers.
The maps recovered in the raid showed plans to attack a police station; a supermarket and a park in the popular tourism destination, according to Malindi police chief Matawa Muchangi, quoted in Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper.
Police also said they found a letter requesting financial support, which they suspect was addressed to al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda.
Three other suspects wounded in the exchange escaped and are still at large.
Kenya has been attacked several times by Islamic extremists with ties to the Somali extremist group al-Shabaab, which opposes Kenya’s military involvement in Somalia.
