This archive report was first published on 21 July 2019.
On January 21, 2019, a man with a hidden life moved into a three-bedroom house in Guango Estate, a residential area in Nairobi. The house, located at E9, was rented for Sh30,000 per month.
Unbeknownst to his neighbors, the man was the alleged lead terrorist in the Dusit Hotel attack that occurred on January 15, 2019. He had converted to Islam, changing his name to Faruk, and was from Kiambu.
His neighbors recall seeing him and his car, with the registration number KCN, several times. They even called the police after recognizing the car, which was used in the attack.
A security guard at the estate described the owner of the car as jovial, a fan of T-shirts, and someone who would always greet them.
Faruk reportedly had a wife but no child. He had been living in the estate for about six months before the attack.
Separately, a waiter who works at the dusitD2 hotel recounted how the attackers first came to the hotel as customers. He remembered one of the attackers because he had a huge scar on his arm.
"I knew one of them because he had a big scar on one of his hands," the waiter told Capital FM. "I saw them. They shot six of my friends, two died."
The attackers who spared him asked why Kenyan forces were killing 'their brothers' in Somalia before opening fire.
"Why are you killing our brothers and sisters in Somalia? They no longer attend Madrassa," one of the attackers reportedly asked.
