LAMU, Kenya, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan security forces said Monday they were holding an al-Shabab suspect who had planned to stage attacks in the coastal Lamu county.

The police said Mustafa Khalib Muhumed, a resident of Tana River County was arrested for providing sensitive information to al-Shabab to facilitate their operations in the northeastern, Tana River and Lamu counties.

"He (Khalib) had also been tasked to report on security operations in northeastern and Lamu County to facilitate al-Shabab improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and ambushes against Kenya's security personnel," the police said in a security report.

The east African nation's coastal towns are the backbone of the country's thriving tourism industry, which has been hit by the fear of terror attacks and the kidnapping of foreigners by the al-Shabab group from resorts near the border with Somalia.

According to police, at the time of his arrest, the suspect had just delivered a detailed surveillance report about a security installation for an attack. - Xinhua