The police initially said that they could not confirm that the woman was definitely Lewthwaite "unless and until she is captured" and said: "Samantha Lewthwaite is one of the names in our records. She had three children with her. She was connected to the terror group." Lewthwaite's father said: "I cannot believe she would be involved in something like this and be there with the children. We have not had any contact with her for some time, I haven't spoken to her for a long time. I don't know if she's in this country or where she is. She has a lot of friends up north but she does not have much to do with us. I don't even know the name of her latest child." Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan Government Spokesperson and Public Communications Secretary, said: "We believe she is a collaborator with terrorists. Our understanding is she was working with people here, al-Qaeda or al-Shabaab people. She is a very big sympathiser with those people. She was not going to carry out an attack, but she helped to fund-raise, helped in the acquisition of weapons, hiding people, transporting people, that kind of thing."