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Kenya hotel attack: INTERPOL deploys team to assist terror probe

17 January 2019

NAIROBI, Kenya – INTERPOL has deployed an international team to Kenya to assist with investigations into the Riverside hotel complex terror attack which left at least 20 dead and dozens wounded.

The expertise provided by the Incident Response Team (IRT) includes disaster victim identification, cyber analysis to decrypt seized mobile phones and other portable devices, biometrics, explosives and firearms, as well as photo and video analysis.

The IRT was deployed at the request of Kenyan authorities and its specialists will carry out real-time comparisons against INTERPOL’s global databases on evidence gathered from the crime scene.

“INTERPOL’s role is to help coordinate the international investigative response in support of the Kenyan authorities as they investigate this appalling terrorist attack,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.

“Whether through comparison of information against INTERPOL’s global databases, or the issuance of a Notice to identify a victim, locate a wanted person, or seek additional information on suspects, INTERPOL is offering all necessary assistance to help bring those responsible to justice.

“Experience has shown us that just one piece of information can prove vital in connecting the dots – and that could come from anywhere in the world,” concluded the INTERPOL Chief.

In addition to INTERPOL’s IRT deployment, support is also being provided to Kenya’s national authorities via INTERPOL’s Regional Bureau in Nairobi, and the 24-hour Command and Coordination Centre (CCC) at INTERPOL’s General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France, as well as in Singapore and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

With a number of foreign nationals among the victims, and investigations on-going, the CCC will also act as a central liaison to the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus of all the involved countries to ensure any ante mortem data on those killed during the attack, both victims and suspected perpetrators, is received as quickly as possible by Kenyan authorities.