Jihadist flag used by al-Shabaab
Washington: The United States today offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction in any country of al-Shabaab terrorist Mohamoud Abdi Aden and any other individual who committed, attempted or conspired to commit, or aided or abetted in the commission of the 2019 attack on the DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi, Kenya.
Mohamoud Abdi Aden, aka Mohamud Abdirahman, an al-Shabaab leader, was part of the cell that planned the Dusit2 Hotel attack. In October 2022, the US Department of State designated Aden as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
It may be mentioned that on the afternoon of January 15, 2019, gunmen with the al-Shabaab terrorist group, armed with explosives, automatic weapons, and grenades, attacked the DusitD2 commercial centre, a 6-building complex of shops, offices, and a hotel. At least 21 people, including one US citizen, were killed in the assault.
Al-Shabaab, an affiliate of the al-Qa’ida terrorist organization, released live updates throughout the attack and issued a press release stating that the attack was in response to guidance from now-deceased al-Qa’ida leader Ayman Zawahiri.
The US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) programme, which offered the reward, mentioned that Al-Shabaab is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Kenya, Somalia, and neighbouring countries that have killed thousands of people, including US citizens. The terrorist group continues to plot, plan, and conspire to commit terrorist acts against the United States, U.S. interests, and foreign partners, it added.
The Department of State designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March 2008. In April 2010, al-Shabaab was also designated by the UN Security Council’s Somalia Sanctions Committee.
Since its inception in 1984, the RFJ programme has paid in excess of $250 million to more than 125 people across the globe who provided actionable information that had helped resolve threats to U.S. national security.
– global bihari bureau
