NISA Impounds al-Shabab’s bomb-making materials in Somalia

Somalia’s spy agency, National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), says it has seized 79 tonnes of sulphuric acid smuggled into the country for use by al-Shabab militants in producing explosives.

NISA, which made this announcement on its twitter page, reported a seizure of about 79 tonnes of sulphuric acid and arrested a number of people who smuggled it into the country and were transporting it to al-Shabab mafia.

The agency added that investigations were ongoing and the suspects will be arraigned later in court. It did not reveal when the seizure was made.

The announcement comes as Somalia marks the third anniversary of the 14 October 2017 bombing in the capital, Mogadishu, where more than 600 people were killed.

Al-Shabab did not say it carried out the attack, although it had staged frequent attacks on the capital in the past and does not seem to have relented in their pursuit of a Sharia-based government.

The UN Security Council had in June warned that al-Shabab was capable of smuggling explosives-making components into the country.

NISA and its partners on war against terror have commenced detailed examinations of the substance.