The United States is offering a $10 million (Sh1.2 billion) reward to persons who will provide information leading to the arrest of three al-Shabaab terrorist group leaders.
The US embassy in Nairobi on Monday November 14 said the leaders are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Somalia, Kenya and neighbouring countries that have killed hundreds of people.
The three terror group leaders are Mahad Karate, Jehad Mostafa, and Ahmed Diriye.
US embassy deputy chief of mission in Kenya Marc Dillard and Somalia US ambassador Larry Andre addressed a press breafing to announce rewards offers for information on the senior al shabaab leaders and the organization’s financial network at the US Embassy in Gigiri, Nairobi on November 14.
“To our Kenyan and regional partners, United States is offering reward money for information that will lead to the identification and disruption of Al-Shabaab’s revenue sources and funding. This is huge information on Al-Shabaab’s exploitation of local natural resources and financial donors and facilitators,” said Dillard.
“We know that al-Shabaab receives money through a plethora of illegal activities that go on around the world to fund their operations and to fund the killing of hundreds of civilians every year,” he added.
The informants are urged to submit the information through Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp to +254-71-87-12-366 (Kenya) or +252-68-43-43-308 (Somalia).
The informants will not only be eligible for the reward but also relocation.
“Do you have info that can help us find Diriye, Karate, or Mostafa? Submit your tip now. You could receive a reward of up to $10,000,000! Relocation may be possible,” a poster prepared reads.
The move comes amid a new wave of attacks in parts of Somalia and northern part of Kenya linked to the terror group.
Both government have launched operations against the group in efforts to contain their attacks.
According to the US, Karate serves as al-Shabaab’s shadow deputy leader. Karate led the Manda Bay attack in Lamu in January 2020.
He has some command responsibility over the Amniyat, al-Shabaab’s intelligence and security wing, as well as the group’s finances.
The Amniyat plays a key role in the execution of suicide attacks and assassinations in Somalia, Kenya and other countries in the region, and provides logistical support for al-Shabaab’s terrorist activities.
The Amniyat was also responsible for the April 2015 attack on Garissa University College in Kenya that killed nearly 150 people, mostly students.
On April 10, 2015, the U.S. Department of State designated Karate as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended.
As a result of this designation, among other consequences, all property, and interests in property, of Karate that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with Karate.
Mostafa is a U.S. citizen and former resident of California, who has held leadership positions with al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
He is believed to be the highest-ranking U.S. citizen fighting overseas with a terrorist organization.
Mostafa lived and graduated from college in San Diego, California, before moving to Somalia in 2005.
With al-Shabaab, Mostafa has functioned in many critical capacities, including serving as a military instructor at the group’s training camps, leading foreign fighters, operating in the group’s media wing, acting as an intermediary between al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, and leading the group’s use of explosives in terrorist attacks.
The US says Mostafa is believed to continue to play a critical role in planning operations directed against the Somali government and internationally-supported African Union forces in Somalia and East Africa. As a result, Mostafa continues to pose a direct threat to U.S. forces, civilians, and interests.
On October 9, 2009, Mostafa was indicted in the Southern District of California on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, conspiring to provide material support to al-Shabaab, and providing material support to al-Shabaab.
On December 2, 2019, a superseding indictment unsealed in U.S. federal court charged Mostafa with terrorism-related offenses. Mostafa is on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List.
Diriye serves as the leader of al-Shabaab—a position he has occupied since the death of former al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane. Prior to replacing Godane, Diriye served in several positions within al-Shabaab, including as Godane’s assistant, the deputy governor of the Lower Juba region of Somalia in 2008, and al-Shabaab’s governor of the Bay and Bakool regions of Somalia in 2009.
By 2013, he was a senior adviser to Godane, and served in al-Shabaab’s “Interior Department,” where he oversaw the group’s domestic activity. He shares Godane’s vision for al-Shabaab’s terrorist attacks in Somalia as an element of al-Qa’ida’s greater global aspirations.
On April 21, 2015, the U.S. Department of State designated him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended.