The US government on Friday designated two senior Al-Shabaab leaders as terrorists amid intensified operations against the militant group by Somali forces backed by African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) troops.
Ali Mohamed Rage, also known as Ali Dhere, and Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, also known as Ikrima are listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under Executive Order 13224, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
US government also added three other senior leaders from the Islamic State’s Mozambique affiliate and Al Qaeda-linked militants based in Mali the list.
“I am announcing the designation of five terrorist leaders in Africa. Bonomade Machude Omar [DAESH/ISIS-Mozambique], Sidan ag Hitta [JNIM], Salem ould Breihmatt [JNIM], Ali Mohamed Rage [al-Shabaab], and Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir [al-Shabaab] are designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Executive Order 13224, as amended,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The US is committed to limiting terrorists’ abilities to conduct further attacks against civilians and to disrupt their financing methods, he said.
“Addressing the terrorist threat across the continent will require working closely with our partners to degrade the capacity and operations of these terrorist groups, combatting their control and influence in West, East, and Southern Africa,” he added.
Ali Dhere has been serving as the spokesperson for al-Shabaab in the past ten year.
Ali Dhere is also a member of al-Shabaab group’s Shura Council which acts as the decision-making organ for the group. He also served as the group’s chairman of Banadir region sometime in 2010.
Ikrima who is said to be an al-Shabaab facilitator and operational planner was born in 1979 to a middle-class Kenyan-Somali family residing in Mombasa.
There is a $3 million bounty on Ikrima’s head offered by the US Reward for Justice Program.
