NAIROBI: The United States said Monday it was increasing its reward for information about key leaders of Somalia’s Al-Shabab to $10 million apiece, a move that follows a spate of deadly attacks by the extremist group.
The US State Department also said it was for the first time offering a reward of up to $10 million for information “leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms” of the Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Al-Shabab fighters have stepped up attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu and other parts of the country in the face of a widescale offensive against the group by the new government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
The US said it was offering up to $10 million each for information leading to the identification of Al-Shabab “emir” Ahmed Diriye, second-in-command Mahad Karate and Jehad Mostafa, a US citizen who it said had various roles in the group.
“These key leaders of Al-Shabab are responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Somalia, Kenya and neighboring countries that have killed thousands of people,” said a poster issued by the US with pictures of the three men.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk said earlier Monday that more than 600 civilians had been killed this year in attacks largely attributed to the group.
At least 613 civilians have been killed and 948 injured so far in 2022, according to the latest United Nations figures — the highest since 2017 and a more-than 30-percent rise from last year.
In the deadliest attack in five years, twin bombings on October 29 claimed by Al-Shabab killed at least 121 people and injured 333 others in Mogadishu, the UN said, citing Somali figures.
The group, which was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in March 2008, has been seeking to overthrow the fragile foreign-backed government in Mogadishu for about 15 years.
Its fighters were driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by an African Union force, but the group still controls swathes of countryside and continues to wage deadly strikes on civilian, political and military targets.
In August, following a 30-hour siege on a Mogadishu hotel that killed at least 21 people, Mohamud declared “all-out war” on the extremists, who espouse a strict version of sharia or Islamic law.
The US statement said Diriye, who has been leader since September 2014 after the killing of Ahmed Abdi Godane in a US strike, was designated by the US as a “specially designated global terrorist” in April 2015, and slapped with UN sanctions the same year.
Karate, who was also designated a terrorist in April 2015 and also faces UN sanctions, continues to lead some Al-Shabab operations, the US said.
He also “maintains some command responsibility over Amniyat, the group’s intelligence and security wing, which oversees suicide attacks and assassinations in Somalia, Kenya, and other countries in the region, and provides logistics and support for Al-Shabab’s terrorist activities.”
Mostafa, a US citizen who once lived in California, has been a military instructor at Al-Shabab training camps, as well as a leader of foreign fighters, a leader in the group’s media wing, an intermediary with other “terrorist organizations,” and a leader in the use of explosives in attacks, the US said.
In December 2019, he was indicted in a US court on various charges linked to Al-Shabab.
“The FBI assesses Mostafa to be the highest-ranking terrorist with US citizenship fighting overseas.”
In May, US President Joe Biden decided to restore a military presence in Somalia, approving a request from the Pentagon, which deemed his predecessor Donald Trump’s rotation system too risky and ineffective.
US offers $10m rewards for Somalia’s Al-Shabab
https://arab.news/g4w7f
US offers $10m rewards for Somalia’s Al-Shabab
- The US is offering up to $10m each for information leading to the identification of Al-Shabab ‘emir’ Ahmed Diriye, second-in-command Mahad Karate and US citizen Jehad Mostafa
- In August, following a 30-hour siege of a Mogadishu hotel that killed at least 21 people, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared ‘all-out war’ on the extremists
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, broadcaster reports seven people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, which is near Cordoba
MADRID: Two high-speed trains derailed on Sunday in southern Spain, the rail network operator said, and state-run television channel RTVE said seven people had died, citing police sources.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. Seven people have been confirmed dead by police, RTVE said, adding that 100 people have been injured, 25 seriously.
Spanish police did not immediately respond to request for comment from Reuters.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about ten minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
Iryo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
Andalusia emergency services said on social media that all rail traffic had been halted and emergency services were on their way, including at least nine ambulances and emergency support vehicles.
CALLS FOR MEDICS
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers.
The staffer told passengers they would be evacuated when it was safe to leave, but at that moment the safest place was on the train. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
The passenger wrote: “In our carriage we’re well but we don’t know about the other carriages. There’s smoke and they’re calling for a doctor.”
The regional government has activated emergency protocols to mobilize more resources to the accident site. Locals posted on social media that a building would be set up in the village nearest the crash for evacuated passengers to be taken to.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
