US Increases Reward For Information About Al-Shabaab Leaders - State Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th November, 2022) The United States is increasing its reward for information that would help identify and locate key leaders of the al-Shabaab terrorist group (affiliated with al-Qaeda, banned in Russia), the State Department said on Friday.

"The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, is increasing its reward offers to up to $10 million each for information leading to the identification or location of al-Shabaab key leaders Ahmed Diriye, Mahad Karate, and Jehad Mostafa," the statement read.

This program is also offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of al-Shabaab, it added.

Diriye has been al-Shabaab's emir since September 2014. The US designated him in 2015, and the UN Security Council included him in its sanctions list in 2014, according to the statement.

"He was seen in a video meeting with al-Shabaab fighters prior to the January 2020 attack on Camp Simba in Manda Bay, Kenya, that killed one US Army soldier and two US contract personnel and wounded three additional US personnel and one Kenyan soldier," the State Department said.

Mahad Karate, who continues to lead Al-Shabaab operations, was designated in 2015.

Jehad Mostafa is a US citizen, who served as a military instructor at al-Shabaab training camps. He is also a leader of foreign fighters, along with al-Shabaab's media wing, the statement added. "The FBI assesses Mostafa to be the highest-ranking terrorist with U.S. citizenship fighting overseas," it said.

Al-Shabaab has been waging an armed struggle against the government of Somalia for over a decade and is controlling large areas in the southern and central parts of the country.