US offers $10M bounty to help hunt down terrorist al-Shabaab leaders

ANKARA (AA) - The US is offering up to $10 million for information that helps bring to justice three leaders of the terrorist group al-Shabaab, as the al-Qaeda-aligned group has stepped up its attacks on government forces and civilians in Somalia in recent days.

“Al-Shabaab is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Somalia, Kenya, and neighboring countries that have killed thousands of people, including US citizens,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday.

The US government is urging Somalis and other people in the region to provide information that will help cut off the terror group’s resources and arrest top al-Shabaab leaders.

The three leaders – al-Shabaab’s “emir,” Ahmed Diriye; his second-in-command, Mahad Karate; and Jehad Mostafa, a US citizen described by the State Department as the leader of the group’s foreign fighters and media wing – are accused of involvement in several deadly terrorist attacks in Somalia and Kenya.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with al-Shabaab being one of the main threats in the Horn of Africa country.

Since at least 2007, al-Shabaab has waged a deadly campaign against the Somali government and international forces that has claimed thousands of lives, including a car bomb attack in late October in the capital Mogadishu that killed at least 100 people and wounded some 300.

The UN has also warned of growing instability in the country, with its periodic reports on Somalia this year detailing attacks by al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS groups.

There were at least 1,518 civilian casualties – 651 killed and 867 injured – in terrorist attacks in Somalia in 2018, followed by 1,459 – 591 killed and 868 injured – in 2019, according to the UN in Somalia.