A column of Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia. The organization reported that it ambushed and killed 30 Kenyan troops involved in a US-backed invasion of the Horn of Africa state., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
US offers bounties for 3 al-Shabab leaders
By By MATTHEW LEE
Friday March 14, 2014 3:45 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department is offering bounties of up to $3 million each for three members of a Somalia-based extremist group with ties to al-Qaida.
The group is al-Shabab, and it claims responsibility for last year's deadly attack on a Kenyan shopping mall.
The department says rewards are being offered for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, Yasin Kilwe and Jafar, who goes by one name.
The three men hold senior roles in al-Shabab, which has launched attacks in Somalia, Kenya and Uganda. The bounties are part of the "Rewards for Justice" program that offers cash for information about terror suspects.
The department says Abdikadir coordinates al-Shabab's recruitment in Kenya, and Jafar is his deputy. Officials say Kilwe is al-Shabaab's emir for Somalia's Puntland region.
US offers rewards for information on Al Shabaab members
IANS Washington
March 15, 2014 07:42
The US State Department Friday announced rewards of up to $3 million each for information on three members of Al Shabaab, a Washington- designated terrorist organisation based in Somalia, Xinhua reported.
The agency is seeking the arrest of Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, better known as Ikrima, for his role in recruiting Kenyan youth into al-Shabaab and as a commander of a force of the group's Kenyan fighters in Somalia.
Jafar, aka Amar, is wanted for being Abdikadir's deputy, while Yasin Kilwe is described as Al Shabaab's emir for Puntland in northern Somalia.
In a statement, the department noted that Al Shabaab has killed thousands of civilians, aid workers and peacekeepers in Somalia, Uganda and Kenya since 2006.
It denounced two terror attacks launched by the group respectively in Kampala, Uganda in July 2010 and in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2013, in which over 70 people including one American citizen and more than 60 people were killed separately.
"Al Shabaab's terrorist activities pose a threat to the stability of East Africa and to the national security interests of the US," the department said.
Washington blacklisted the group as a foreign terrorist organisation in March 2008, which announced an alliance with Al Qaeda in February 2012.
Rewards for Justice - Reward Offers for Information on al-Shabaab Members: Ikrima, Jafar, and Yasin Kilwe
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
March 14, 2014
The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program is offering rewards for information on three members of the Somalia-based terrorist organization Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin, al-Shabaab. The Department has authorized rewards of up to $3 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, Jafar, and Yasin Kilwe.
Since 2006, al-Shabaab has killed thousands of civilians, aid workers, and peacekeepers in Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the July 11, 2010, suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, which killed more than 70 people, including one American citizen. Al-Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the September 21-24, 2013, terrorist attack against the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that left more than 60 people dead and nearly 200 wounded.
Al-Shabaab’s terrorist activities pose a threat to the stability of East Africa and to the national security interests of the United States. The U.S. Secretary of State named al-Shabaab a Foreign Terrorist Organization on March 18, 2008. In February 2012, al-Shabaab and the al-Qaida terrorist network jointly announced they had formed an alliance.
Abdikadir, better known as Ikrima, was born in 1979 in Kenya to Somali parents. Ikrima reportedly has medium-length hair and has worn a thick moustache. He is missing three fingers on his left hand. He has coordinated the recruitment of Kenyan youth into al-Shabaab and commanded a force of al-Shabaab’s Kenyan fighters in Somalia.
Jafar, also known as Amar, is an al-Shabaab facilitator and has served as Ikrima’s deputy, and is reportedly missing one eye.
Yasin Kilwe is al-Shabaab’s emir for Puntland in northern Somalia. Kilwe was officially appointed al-Shabaab’s leader in the region by Al-Shabaab emir Ahmed Abdi aw-Godane. Kilwe pledged his allegiance to al-Shabaab and al-Qaida in February 2012.
More information about these individuals is located on the Rewards for Justice website at www.rewardsforjustice.net. We encourage anyone with information on these individuals to contact the Rewards for Justice office via the website, e-mail (RFJ@state.gov), phone (1-800-877-3927), or mail (Rewards for Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA). All information will be kept strictly confidential.
The Rewards for Justice program is administered by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid in excess of $125 million to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that put terrorists behind bars or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Rewards4Justice.
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