NAIROBI // The intelligence chief of Al Shabab insurgents and 10 other commanders were killed in an air strike in Somalia, Kenya’s army said on Thursday.
Kenyan troops, part of an African Union force in Somalia (Amisom) fighting the insurgents, claimed to have killed top commander Mahad Karate in an air strike at a Shabab training camp 10 days ago. Kenya celebrated what it called a “major blow” to the Al-Qaeda-linked group with the killing of Karate, who has a $5 million US bounty on his head.
Al Shabab however dismissed the claim as “baseless”.
Karate – leader of the Shabab’s Amniyat unit, a special security wing responsible for intelligence, attacks and assassinations – is said to have been involved in plotting the 2015 massacre of 148 people at Garissa university in northeastern Kenya.
“The killing ... is a major blow to the terrorist group,” army spokesman David Obonyo said.
“The Kenya defence forces, under Amisom operations, would like to confirm that Mahad Mohammed Karate ... and 10 other middle level commanders were killed in a major KDF strike,” in southern Somalia on February 8, Mr Obonyo said.
The claims could not be independently verified.
But the 10-day delay in announcing Karate’s death suggests thorough efforts to identify the remains were carried out.
Karate was at a Shabab training camp to “preside over the passing out of an estimated 80 Amniyat recruits who had completed their training, and were due for deployment to carry out more terrorist attacks”, Mr Obonyo said.
Karate was put on the US state department’s wanted terrorist list in April 2015 after the Garissa attack, which followed the 2013 attack in the Kenyan capital when Shabab gunmen slaughtered at least 67 people at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall.
Security sources believed he was a key advocate of switching allegiance from Al Qaeda to ISIL, an ongoing and bloody debate within Al Shabab.
His death, if confirmed, could strengthen leader Ahmed Diriye’s efforts to remain part of Al Qaeda.
The Shabab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, which is protected by 22,000 African Union troops.
Last week, Al Shabab claimed responsibility for a bomb attack which ripped a hole in a passenger plane shortly after takeoff from the capital Mogadishu earlier this month.
* Agence France-Presse
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Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
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Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
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Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
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Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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