(SomaliNet) Authorities in Kenya said their forces have arrested five men of foreign fighters including a U.S. national and a French national suspected to be fighters for Somalia's defeated Islamist movement, the Kenyan news papers reported. The five, which are believed to be belonging to Somalia Islamists, were carrying two AK 47 rifles with more than 120 rounds of ammunitions when they were arrested. Others were a Tunisian and two Syrians. A senior police official was quoted as saying a joint security team arrested the men late Wednesday at a border crossing near the Kenyan coastal town of Lamu. This brings to 18 the number of suspects arrested in the area carrying passports of countries outside the East African region. Kenyan troops on Saturday arrested 13 foreigners carrying American, British and Arabian Gulf passports at Kiunga as they attempted to cross the border from Somalia. Officers from the Anti-terrorism Police Unit are interrogating the suspects. Government sources said the suspects could be brought to Nairobi for further interrogation. The suspects were handed over to the country's anti-terrorism police to carry out more investigations. "We are doing a background check on the suspects but so far their passports look genuine," the official added.
One of the men was carrying a U.S. passport, two had British passports and the rest carried Syrian, Saudi Arabian and Yemeni passports. Last week, the Kenyan government deported 34 people suspected to be members of the Islamist movement. The Islamists, who once controlled much of southern and central Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, have retreated to remote regions near the Kenyan frontier, prompting Nairobi to close its border and lock out thousands of refugees.