Tag Archives: tanzania

Police in Zanzibar arrested 15 people suspected of involvement in acid attacks; some of the suspects are said to be members of al Qaeda and its Somali affiliate, Shabaab. The Zanzibar police commissioner said some of the suspects were preparing to “take part in wars outside Tanzania.” All 15 suspects are on police bail and […]

A Catholic priest in Zanzibar was hospitalized with burns to his face and body after an assailant threw acid on him as he was leaving an Internet cafe. He had been threatened during the past two months and had reported the threats. President Shein ordered police to expedite investigations into the rise in acid attacks; […]

The chief criminal investigator denied that the recent arrest of extremist cleric Ponda Issa Ponda is linked to an acid attack on two British schoolgirls last week. Ponda’s family disputes the official account of his arrest and is conducting its own investigation. The Dar es Salaam police issued a reward for information leading to the […]

Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda, who has been linked to a recent acid attack on two British schoolgirls, is in police custody in Dar es Salaam with a shoulder injury. Ponda was arrested two days ago for violating a bail condition prohibiting him from inciting unrest. Sheikh Alhad Mussa Salum, the Regional Sheikh for Dar es […]

Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda, an extremist cleric who has links with the Islamist group Uamsho and is thought to be behind a recent acid attack on two British girls, was shot by police but escaped. Authorities had called for the arrest of Ponda, the Secretary of the Council of Islamic Organisation, for disobeying a court […]

Two 18-year-old British girls who had been volunteering at a school in Zanzibar where injured when assailants threw acid on them. No arrests have been made, but Islamist militants are suspected. The Uamsho, a group that wants to impose sharia law in Zanzibar, has clashed with police in the past. Two Christian pastors were killed […]