Mohamoud Abdi Aden is the second Kenyan-Somali the U.S. State Department has placed a $10 million bounty on in the last week. Shabaab now has five leaders with $10 million bounties, the most for any Sunni jihadist group.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, continues to conduct a high operational tempo inside northeastern Kenya.
The governor of Kenya’s Mandera County recently stated that Shabaab is controlling “over 50 percent’ of northern Kenya and “more than 60 percent” of Mandera. Kenyan authorities have quickly scrambled to contradict these claims.
The Al Qaeda branch claims its men enacted “heavy losses” to AMISOM and Kenyan troops in southern Somalia. African Union troops and the Somali government have stated otherwise, however.
Ali Mohamud Rage, a senior Shabaab official, has released a video concerning the group’s assault on the Manda Bay Airfield earlier this week. Three Americans were killed during the attack, which Rage says was “carried out under the guidance and direction” of Ayman al-Zawahiri.
One U.S. service member and two Defense Department contractors were killed during a raid by Shabaab on the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya earlier today. U.S. AFRICOM accused the al-Qaeda arm of exaggerating the effects of its operation, which is true. But the jihadists still managed to infiltrate an airfield used by the U.S. and its allies to combat the group.
Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s regional branch in East Africa, assaulted the Manda Bay Airfield in Kenya earlier today. The extent of the damage is unclear, but at least some aircraft and equipment was set ablaze.
The jihadist group continues to launch large-scale attacks inside Kenyan territory.
Shabaab continues to claim deadly attacks on Kenyan Defense Forces inside Kenya despite military operations against it.
If the photos are confirmed, Shabaab was able to wrestle brief control over the base yesterday. This contradicts official statements released by Somali officials about the assault.
The State Department has amended the terrorist designation of Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, to include Al-Hijra, which has served as Shabaab’s “wing” in Kenya. In the past, according to the UN, Al-Hijra has played a key role in Shabaab’s planning of terrorist attacks.
State added Ahmad Iman Ali, the leader of Shabaab’s network in Kenya, and Abdifatah Abubakar Abdi, a dangerous Kenyan commander, to its list of Specially Designated Global terrorists.
Over the past three weeks, dozens of people in Kenya have been killed by Shabaab in assaults and improvised explosive device attacks.
In a newly released video, Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mahmoud Rage addresses graduates of a training camp for foreign fighters. “Many” of the graduates are from Kenya and, Rage says, they should form an “army that will conquer Kenya so that we may return to our families and relatives in a state of honor and glory.”
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, has released a video of a Kenyan soldier who was captured during a Jan. 15, 2016 raid on an AMISOM base in El Adde. The UN found that approximately 150 Kenyan soldiers were killed in the attack and another 11 were taken hostage. The jihadists’ attack in El Adde was “the largest military defeat in Kenyan history,” according to the UN.
Shabaab’s deadly raid on a Kenyan Defense Forces base in southern Somalia last week comes just over a year after a similar assault left at least 100 Kenyan soldiers dead.
Shabaab continues to demonstrate its deadliness in both Kenya and Somalia.
Shabaab’s leader in Kenya warns jihadists will turn the country’s flag red with “the blood that we will spill in Kenya.”
The video, which was focused on the legality of providing protection and killing the non-believers, features two undated ambushes on Kenyan security forces. Additionally, the video also calls for attacks on Israelis.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s official branch in Somalia and East Africa, continues to be a capable insurgent and terrorist group in the region.
Kenyan authorities say son of official was among gunmen in university attack
Kenyan fighter jets bomb Shabaab training camps in Somalia
Somali militants vow to turn Kenyan cities 'red with blood'
Shabaab terrorists raided a university in Kenya. According to initial reports, more than 70 people have been killed and dozens more wounded. The gunmen reportedly attempted to separate Muslims from non-Muslims during the assault.
Shabaab gunned down a senior officer with Kenya’s counterterrorism police in Mombasa. Security forces are on high alert amidst reports that Shabaab operatives have snuck into the country to conduct attacks.
Kenyan troops from the AMISOM force killed five Shabaab fighters and wounded several more during an ambush by the terrorist group in Lamu; one soldier was killed and three others were wounded. A prominent Kenyan newspaper apologized for publishing the cover of the magazine attacked by terrorists in Paris last week.
Two suspected Shabaab gunmen opened fire at a church in Mombasa, killing the pastor. The attackers escaped.
Shabaab in Kenya’s slums
Kenya shocked by Shabab terror
Kenya bus attack: Military ‘kills 100 Shabab militants’