Al-Shabaab Linked To TWO Students' Disappearance In Garissa

Al-Shabaab Linked To TWO Students’ Disappearance In Garissa

Confusion has gripped Garissa County as police began a manhunt for two schoolboys believed to have been led across the border to join the Al-Shabaab militia.

The students, aged 13 and 15, are from Mzuri Primary School and were reported missing after failing to return home during a usual school pickup.

Their abduction sparked worry among their family and school community, with suspicions growing by the hour that they had crossed into Somalia.

It all began on July 5, when a man purporting to be their uncle arrived at school and asked to take the boys out briefly.

Reports indicate that the alleged uncle told the head teacher he simply wanted to buy them learning materials, and since nothing seemed off, permission was granted without hesitation.

That was the last time anyone at the school saw the two boys, and for two days, their absence did not immediately raise alarm.

Concern only grew after relatives realised the children had also failed to return to the home where they lived with their grandmother.

Unable to trace either the boys or their uncle, a family member reported the disappearance at Garissa Police Station on July 8.

KDF destroy 4 explosives planted by Al-Shabab.

KDF soldiers’ operation in the Boni forest corridor under operation Amani Boni neutralized IEDs planted by Al-Shabaab along major supply routes in Lamu County. The concealed explosive devices targeted both the security operations… pic.twitter.com/kxr7HPBlYF— Chris Sambu (@the_sambu) July 20, 2026

Detectives immediately launched investigations, uncovering evidence that suggested the journey had been carefully planned.

Investigators established that the uncle had travelled from Mombasa to Garissa three days before the disappearance and had been staying at a relative’s home.

ALSO READ:

Phone tracking later placed him in Dhobley, a town in southern Somalia, reinforcing investigators’ suspicion that the two boys had been smuggled across the border.

Investigators have identified the boys’ father, whom security agencies suspect is an Al-Shabaab operative who fled to Somalia in 2018, as the alleged mastermind behind the disappearance.

According to investigators, the father is believed to have instructed his brother, the boys’ uncle, to collect the children from Garissa and take them across the border into Somalia.

The uncle has also been identified as a person of interest in the January 26 attack in Hulugho, Garissa County, in which Boma Location Chief Abdufatah Mohamud and primary school teacher Stephen Musili were killed.

Authorities fear the two boys could be subjected to extremist indoctrination or militant training if they are not rescued in time.

Security agencies say efforts to trace and recover the children are ongoing amid concerns they could be recruited into Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab Linked To TWO Students’ Disappearance In Garissa