The United States has listed two Kenyan al Shabaab leaders as global terrorists.
Ahmad Ali and Abdifatah Abdi were listed on March 8 in a United Nations security council subsidiary organs .
Ali was is said to be a prominent al Shabaab commander who has served as the group’s leader in Kenya since 2012.
He is the director of the group’s Kenyan branch operations and routinely targets Kenyan AMISOM troops in Somalia.
The State Department cited the January 2016 attack on Kenyan AMISOM troops in El Adde, Somalia.
About 100 KDF soldiers reportedly died and an unknown number went missing, some kidnapped and held hostage by the attackers.
Military spokesman David Obonyo at that time disputed that there were 240 KDF officers at the camp, but did not give the exact number.
He maintained that it was a company size team of soldiers.
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According to the UN, Ali is also responsible for al Shabaab propaganda targeting the Kenyan government and civilians.
He is credited for the July 2017 video in which he issues threats to Muslims serving in Kenya’s security forces.
The reports says he has at times also served as an al Shabaab recruiter, focusing on poor youth in slums, as well as al Shabaab fundraiser who utilises mosques in an effort to secure resources.
"Ali's overall goal is to destabilise Kenya by threatening, planning, and executing attacks, and to encourage young Muslims to participate in fighting against Kenyan security forces."
ABDI
He was listed and put on the Kenyan government’s wanted list of terrorists known or suspected to be members of al Shabaab in 2015.
The police reported that Abdi recruited members for the militia who provided support to al Shabaab and engages in acts that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Somalia.
Among these recruits were three women arrested by Kenyan police while attempting to cross into Somalia.
While Abdi may be focused on operations outside of Somalia, he is known to reside in Somalia and recruit individuals for Al-Shabaab who intend to cross the border between Kenya and Somalia.
Abdi is also wanted in connection with the June 2014 attack in Mpeketoni, Kenya that claimed numerous lives, and was believed to be planning further attacks.
Following the incident, hundreds of security officers were deployed to the town and the environs.
Businesses and schools in Mpeketoni division remained closed for fear of fresh attacks.
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