Rwandan Police on Monday confirmed that officers shot to death Muhammad Mugemangango, a deputy Imam at Kimironko Mosque, Kigali, who they say was a suspect in recruiting young Muslim men and women for terrorist group Islamic State (IS).

Mr Mugemangango succumbed to his wounds on Saturday night after he was shot while attempting to escape, according to a communique posted on the country's police website.

He had previously been detained at Kanombe Police Station on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities, but police declined to mention how long he had been held in detention.

According to police, the shooting incident happened when the suspect led police officers to his Kimironko residence for a search operation, but on the way back, “he jumped off the vehicle whereupon he was shot so he does not escape but died in the process”.

“He was under investigations for mentoring Rwandan youths into Jihad and recruiting them to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Investigation continues to establish further details in this case,” the statement reads.

Cooperate with security agencies

Meanwhile, the head of the Muslim community in Rwanda - Mufti Sheikh Ibrahim Kayitare - has strongly denied any possibility of terrorist recruitment in the country's mosques, adding that the Muslim community will cooperate with security agencies to root out any form of radicalization.

Sheikh Kayitare confirmed the fatality but said that there is no form of terrorist recruitment going on in any mosque in Rwanda.

“I cannot confirm that there is any terrorist group in Rwanda or any sort of recruitment in our mosques. Any form of radicalization that could be going on should not be linked to our mosques or Islam but to individuals’ beliefs or actions,” he said.

“The Muslim community in Rwanda seeks to protect the youth – not to radicalize them, and we are always ready to cooperate with security agencies to remove any form of illegal behavior that may undermine the security of our nation.”

When The EastAfrican visited Kimironko Mosque Monday morning, where the deceased deputy Imam prayed, we found members of the congregation shocked at the news, with some still unable to digest the news of his the death.

“I knew him as a man who was praying with us here and also collaborating school projects for the mosque,” one member spoke on condition of anonymity.

“He was a Muslim like us and we did not see anything wrong with him. He was a man with a family and had ideas like any other man.”

Another source from the mosque denied that such terrorist recruitment were going on in the mosque.

“Unless he was doing it from another place but not Kimironko Mosque because there is no such activity going here,” he said.

Police said that the deceased was arrested acting on information “provided by the public”.

Police did not mention for how long they had information on such religious radicalism in the country, but confirmed that they detected formation of terror networks in the country.

“We will do our best to unmask the network and deal with them in accordance with the law,” the statement added.

While Rwanda has not experienced terrorism by any radical groups, its east African neighbours Kenya and Uganda have in the past suffered waves of attacks from Al-Shabaab – the Al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist group based in Somalia.