Police
said yesterday they would launch immediate investigations into threats by a
suspected terrorist group to blow up a Dar es Salaam church.
Director
of Criminal Investigations Robert Manumba made remarks to that effect in a
telephone interview with this paper, which had shortly earlier received a copy
of a three-page written statement apparently prepared and circulated by a
suspected terrorist group giving Tanga as its base.
The
group, which identified itself as ‘Al-Shabaab Tanzania’, threatened to attack
Efatha Life Ministry structures at Mwenge “any time from now”.
“And
we will make sure that EFATHA buildings are reduced to a playing ground...with
nothing on it,” said the statement, which bore the signature of a
“representative” who sought strict anonymity.
The
group warned the church’s faithful to spare their lives by not attending
prayers or conducting any other activities, including banking, in the said
compound.