The United States placed a bounty on top militants in the al-Shabab, the first time a reward has been offered for members of the Somalia-based Islamist group.
Through its Rewards for Justice program the State Department said it is offering as much as $7 million for information leading to the whereabouts of Ahmed Abdi aw-Mohamed, the founder of al-Shabab, according to a statement Thursday.
The State Department said al-Shabab is responsible for killing thousands of Somali civilians, peace activists, international aid workers, reporters, and African Union peacekeepers.
Al-Shabab, which in February announced it had merged with al-Qaeda, has also been blamed for exacerbating last year’s famine in Somalia, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Al-Shabab would not allow aid workers to work in affected areas.
The group has carried out numerous suicide attacks in the capital Mogadishu and in other parts of the country. It has also kidnapped Westerners, including tourists and aid workers, and conducted bombings in Kenya.
The organization’s “terrorist activities pose a threat to the stability of East Africa and to the national security interests of the United States,” reads the statement from the State Department.
The State Department is also offering another $5 million each for the location of Mohamed’s top deputies Ibrahim Haji Jama, Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud, and Mukhtar Robow. Another $3 million was offered for Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi and Abdullahi Yare, who are also leaders.
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