Tanzanian police have detained five Somali nationals suspected of entering the country illegally, according to police sources on Monday.

They were detained at Mbezi while on board a long-haul bus from Arusha bordering Kenya to Dar es Salaam.

Jamal Rwambow, police commander from Dar es Salaam's Kinondoni sub-region, confirmed that the detention had been made over the weekend and that the police were investigating the validity of their passports.

The detention was made in tandem with the round-up by Kenyan police of suspected Somali Islamic militants.

Last week, Kenyan police reportedly detained a number of people and handed them over to Kenya's anti-terrorism department for interrogation.

The Kenyan authorities have deported 34 people suspected to be members of the Somali Islamic movement.

The Somali Islamists have reportedly retrieved to regions bordering Kenya after they had been pushed back by Ethiopia-backed Somali government troops from central and southern Somalia.

Source: Xinhua