Police refutes reports on Al-Shabaab attack in Morogoro

POLICE in Morogoro region have refuted reports of a notorious Al-Shabaab group that have been attacked and killed in an exchange of fire by the police which occurred yesterday at Mziha village in Mvomero district, Morogoro region. Regional Police Commander (RPC) for Morogoro SACP Leonard Lwabuzala said that, the breaking news of a report about the incident which was aired through by radio transmission to the general public is a misleading report and not true.

 Speaking in a telephone interview Commander Lwabuzala noted that he has instructed the radio announcer to refute such allegations as his report is a great threat to the people and the general public as a whole for lacking truth in it. However, he elaborated the issue and said that what has transpired at the scene of accident was that, a group of suspected thieves came into confrontation with the police in the area and were arrested in what the police said is a normal swoop aimed at looking for suspects. 

Al-Shabaab militant group in a training session

He denied the reports about deaths which the radio announcer had earlier reported and said that about six people have been arrested by the police for interrogation in connection with various incidents happening in the area now and then. Earlier reports that broke the silence of the general public speculated that, police in Mororogo region had killed three people two of which are suspected to be members of a notorious Islamic Al-Shabaab group who were armed and took refuge in the forests in Mvomero district. The report aired in the radio at noon yesterday said that, there was heavy fighting between the police and the suspected Al-Shabaab group in the area an aspect that caused residents to run away all over the place in great fear. Due to the heavy fighting that continued unabated occurred in the forests at Mvomero district closer to the neighboring Tanga region. According to the announcer, there are some people who were taken to the hospital and that the police has intensified security in the area in search of other culprits. Fear reigned among the residents of Tanzania's northern Tanga region six months ago, hours after security forces exchanged fire with militants believed to belong to the militant Al-Shabaab movement. Security forces exchanged fire with the militants for 20 minutes early on Sunday in Amboni caves in Tanga, before the latter ran away. A policeman was killed and five others wounded in the exchange. Al-Shabaab is most active in Somalia, where it has been fighting government troops for several years now. In recent months, the group has started staging attacks against neighboring countries, including Tanzania.