Hunt still on for gunmen after deadly siege at caves

Tanga. The gunmen who clashed with security forces in the Amboni caves in Tanga on Saturday are still at large, even as speculation intensified on the true nature of the assailants.

No concrete evidence has emerged so far to lend credence to widespread claims, especially in Tanga city, that the attackers were linked to terrorist groups.

There has so far been no indication from any foreign terror group citing existence of a local affiliate that could have been involved in the attack of considerably high magnitude.

The Citizen cannot therefore independently say who the gang members are and where they are from.

A huge cordon thrown around the caves and surrounding forests since Saturday was still in force as the police and members of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces continued their offensive.

Journalists were kept at bay for the second day of the operation as no information was coming from the battlefront, but frightened people who fled from a neighbourhood residential settlement and a quarry reported heavy police movements.

The event was the major discussion topic amongst shocked Tanga residents who were huddled in several groups and spoke in hushed tones, as they also waited for any significant news from the scene.

The Tanga Regional Police Commander, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SACP) Fraser Kashai, speaking from the operation base in Amboni over the phone, said that Police are still on an intense manhunt for the assailants who shot and killed a TPDF soldier and injured several others who are admitted in hospital.

He said no gang member had been arrested by yesterday afternoon, and couldn’t reveal how many of the attackers, who the police suspect are home grown militants, were involved in the fierce clashes.

Other sources revealed that a special security squad was deployed on Saturday night to reinforce the operation, one of whose component is a systematic combing of the caves.

The death of the TPDF soldier and the shooting of five others including one regular police are being blamed on an ambush by the armed gang members.

The fallen soldier who was shot in the stomach was yesterday identified only as Saidi.