WASHINGTON – The United States on Tuesday offered a $5 million reward for information on the whereabouts of a leader of the Somali jihadist group Al-Shabaab.
Abukar Ali Adan, who was officially designated a terrorist by the United States in 2018, is the deputy commander of the extremist group, the State Department said.
It said he is also associated with several branches of Al-Qaeda.
Al-Shabaab has been waging a violent insurgency against the government of Somalia for more than 15 years.
Flushed out of major cities in 2011-2012, the organization is still present over vast rural areas, mainly in the center and south of the Horn of Africa nation. It stages attacks regularly against security forces, politicians and civilians.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May last year vowing all-out war against the militants, who have also carried out deadly attacks in neighboring countries including Kenya.
“The terrorist group continues to plot, plan, and conspire to commit terrorist acts against the United States, US interests, and foreign partners,” the State Department said.
Source: Thedefensepost + AFP
