Saturday, July 07, 2012
FINISHING TOUCHES: Kenya Defence Force Brigadier Ngere is helped to gets his scurf in order during the rehating ceremony of KDF to AMISOM at the Department of Defence headquarters in Nairobi yesterday
.
An intelligence report has identified seven Kenyan Al Shabaab commanders responsible for targeting churches to cause religious disharmony between Muslims and Christians in North Eastern and coast regions. The Star learnt of the three on the day the us government santion three Kenyans for financing Al Shaba. The three Aboud Rogo Mohammed, Abubaker Shariff Ahmed and Omar Awadh Omar are accused by the US government of providing financial or logistical support to al-Shabab. Omar who is being held in Uganda is accused of helping to plan the July 2010 bombings in Kampala, Uganda that killed 74 people.
According to highly placed intelligence sources, the imminent capture of Kismayu port by Kenya Defence Force, now under Amisom, has triggered panic among Kenyan Al Shabab, who fear displacement and loss of income from the port. "The imminent capture of strategic port city of Kismayo has threatened the leadership of the Al-Shabaab leading to panic, looting and embezzlement of fund, stashing of cash in foreign accounts/ hawalas and panic disposal of fixed assets and non-combat vehicles to prepare life as guerrilla fighters. They anticipate that land piracy and kidnappings will compensate their cash loss when Kismayo falls," the report says. The group is led by Mohammed Abdikadir Mohammed, aka Ikrima.
Ikrima is a Kenyan of Somali origin, who is in charge of Kenyan fighters in Somalia. He is reported to have worked under the late Harun Fazul and Saleh Nabhan. He went to Somalia in 2006. Others are Ahmed Imam, a Kenyan from Meru. Imam, left for Somalia in 2009. Then, he was the Amir of Majengo Youth and has decreed death to all Kenyan Al Shabab fighters planning to return and surrender. Also in the group is Juma Otit Ayub Were, who hails from Majengo slums in Nairobi and heads Al Shabab Police, responsible for Sharia laws.
Others are Kahale Famau Kahale from Kiunga, Coast province, Eric Achayo Ogada from Siaya, Athumai Ahmed from Meru and a shadowy terror mastermind, whose identity is the subject of ongoing investigations but is linked to a grenade attack in Roysambu three years ago. According to intelligence reports, the individuals are responsible for the grenade and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks on civilians in North Eastern, Coast and Nairobi. They deploy small groups of between 15 to 20 seasoned terrorists to execute their evil plans. The bands operate in Garissa and Mandera counties.
The report says their agenda is to instill fear to communities opposed to their activities. Apart from hurling grenades at churches, bars, bus stops and crowd areas, they are also involved in kidnapping of foreigners in Mombasa and North Eastern to raise money for Al Shabab. “In the recent past they have been targeting churches, businesses owned by upcountry people and security personnel with the intention of causing religious tension between Muslims and Christians who have coexisted together for many years,” states the reports.
According to the reports, the individuals are currently planning targeted killings of local leaders at the Coast, North Eastern and Nairobi. The targeted leader are those thought to frustrate their activities. "They plan to use the criminal gangs for targeted executions due to their ability to blend with the local resident clans and their familiarity with the environment. Their main focus for such attacks is the North Eastern and Coast provinces where they have managed to recruit local youth into their ranks," states the report.
Meanwhile, three Kenyan Muslim clerics have have had their bank accounts and assets frozen by the United States for allegedly supporting Al Shabaab. Aboud Rogo Mohammed, Abubaker Shariff Ahmed and Omar Awadh Omar are accused by the US of providing financial or logistical support to the terror thugs. Omar, who is being held in Uganda, is accused of helping to plan the July 2010 bombings in Kampala, Uganda that killed 74 people.
The three are accused of providing financial and logistical support and recruiting and training fighters for al Shabaab. The US frozen their assets in the US and warned American citizens from conducting business with the three. Two Eritrean military officers Colonel Tewolde Negash, an intelligence officer accused of sending money to al-Shabab, and Colonel Taeme Goitom, accused of helping make decisions for a group within the Hizbul Islam militia that merged with al-Shabab in 2010, are on the list of six sanctioned by the US government.
Also sanctioned is Sudanese Suhayl Salim Abd-el-Rahman alleged to have travelled and handed cash to foreign fighters entering Somalia. In 2008, the US designated al-Shabab as a terrorist organization. The U.S. Treasury Department designated the six men Thursday under a 2010 presidential order that allows the government to freeze property of individuals contributing to the conflict in Somalia.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said all six have direct links to the terrorist. She said all six threaten peace and hopes for stability in the region, and she warned their actions will not be tolerated. The US placed a US$33 million bounty on the heads of senior al Shabaab leaders to mount pressure on the insurgents group which has been trying to overthrow the Somali government and impose fundamentalist rule.
Defence Minister Yusuf Haji yesterday said: " We are happy that they are going to be dealt with. They have been preaching in Mombasa that I am a kaffir who should be killed because of the work i do." Haji said yesterday during the re-hatting of the Kenya Defence Force troops into AMISOM at the Department of Defence headquarters in Nairobi.
The US frozen any of their assets in the US and warned any American citizens from conducting any business with the three. Two Eritrean military officers Colonel Tewolde Negash, an intelligence officer accused of funneling money to al-Shabab, and Colonel Taeme Goitom,accused of helping make decisions for a group within the Hizbul Islam militia that merged with al-Shabab in 2010 are on the list of six sanctioned by the US government.
Also sanctioned is a Sudanese national identified as Suhayl Salim Abd-el-Rahman who is alleged travel and financial assistant for foreign fighters entering Somalia. In 2008, the US designated al-Shabab as a terrorist organization. The U.S. Treasury Department designated the six men Thursday under a 2010 presidential order that allows the government to freeze property of individuals contributing to the conflict in Somalia.
U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said all six have direct links to the terrorist organization. She said all six threaten peace and hopes for stability in the region, and she warned that such actions will not be tolerated. Recently, the US placed a US$33 million bounty on the heads of senior al Shabaab leaders to mount pressure on the insurgents group which has been trying to overthrow the Somali government and impose a harshly conservative form of Islam on the country.
Al Shabaab has recently lost most of the territory it earlier controlled to AMISOM troops which support the Somalia Transitional Federal Government. Defence Minister Yusuf Haji yesterday confirmed that he had received information that the US government had issued the sanctions on the three clerics saying they were preaching hatred. " We are happy that they are going to be dealt with. They have been in Mombasa that I am a kaffir who should be killed because of the work i do," Haji said yesterday during the re-hatting of the Kenya Defence Force troops into AMISOM at the Department of Defence headquarters in Naiorbi.