Shock over Reports Former Military Officers Son is an Alshabaab Militia

OMAR SHARIFF

It has now been revealed that Idris Abdirahman son is a member of the outlawed Alshabaab militia group.

Major Idris is a father of three and is a retired military officer.

According to intelligence reports Idris went to Somalia in August 2023 through Ethiopia to trace one of sons.

Interestingly, the boy in question is learned with special training in IT from Malaysia.

The intelligence report in our possession shows that Idris has been communicating with some Alshabaab senior officials who assured him that his son is in safe hands.

Senior security agencies are now concerned with the development given that Idris is a retired military officer.

The security agencies are now relying on further reports that a Mosque within Nyali area and parts of Kisauni is being used to recruit young boys to join Alshabaab.

A close family friend from Eastleigh said that Idris was abandoned by his son because he was an absentee father.

He was an alcoholic and loved the company of twilight girls and old ladies as per the reports.

Shockingly he has never reported the case regarding his son joining the militia group to any of the investigative authorities.

A senior National Intelligence Service (NIS) officer who did not want to be quoted said that he made it to Somalia through help from his friends.

“He knew all about his son’s movement and what he went to do was just a PR exercise. Idris does not go to mosque and he only manipulates people, we re so keen on his bank accounts and phone numbers.” She said

The source added that major Idris usually uses WhatsApp as a way to communicate when referring to Somalia issues.

Police are also investigating his source of income and how he spends his money.

“He hides in police sources and some key politicians to hide away from the reality. We are also monitoring closely how he gets money and how he runs his errands.” She added

Kenyan security agents have been on the higher alert over several years and have neutralized most attacks in the recent years.

Late last year a terrorism alert from police warned that fighters from the al Shabaab Islamist group in neighbouring Somalia were planning attacks and their targets included churches, universities, hospitals and schools in Kenya’s coast region.

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In June 2023 Eight Kenyan police officers were killed when their vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device in a suspected attack by Somalia-based rebel group al-Shabab, police said.

The incident took place last year in Garissa county in eastern Kenya, a region on the border with Somalia, where al-Shabab has been waging a bloody rebellion against the fragile government in Mogadishu for more than 15 years.

Meanwhile the U.S State Department of State Rewards for Justice has announced Reward Offers for Information on Key Leaders of al-Shabaab Ahmed Diriye, Mahad Karate, and Jehad Mostafa, and the Disruption of its Financial Mechanisms

The Justice  program, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, is increasing its reward offers to up to $10 million each for information leading to the identification or location of al-Shabaab key leaders Ahmed Diriye, Mahad Karate, and Jehad Mostafa.

RFJ is also offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of al-Shabaab. This announcement marks the first time that the Department has offered a reward for information on al-Shabaab’s financial networks.

Al-Shabaab is al-Qa’ida’s principal affiliate in East Africa. Al-Shabaab is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Somalia, Kenya, and neighboring countries that have killed thousands of people, including U.S. citizens.

The Department of State designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in March 2008.

In April 2010, Al-Shabaab was also designated by the UNSC’s Somalia Sanctions Committee pursuant to paragraph 8 of resolution 1844 (2008).

Ahmed Diriye, al-Shabaab’s emir since September 2014, was designated by the Department as an SDGT on April 21, 2015 and by the UNSC’s Somalia Sanctions Committee on September 24, 2014.

He was seen in a video meeting with al-Shabaab fighters prior to the January 2020 attack on Camp Simba in Manda Bay, Kenya, that killed one U.S. Army soldier and two U.S. contract personnel and wounded three additional U.S. personnel and one Kenyan soldier.

Mahad Karate was designated by the Department as an SDGT on April 21, 2015 and by the UNSC’s Somalia Sanctions Committee on February 26, 2021. Karate is al-Shabaab’s second or shadow deputy emir and continues to lead some al-Shabaab operations.

Karate maintains some command responsibility over Amniyat, al-Shabaab’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-Shabaab’s terrorist activities.

Jehad Mostafa is a U.S. citizen and former resident of California. Mostafa has served as a military instructor at al-Shabaab training camps, a leader of foreign fighters, a leader in al-Shabaab’s media wing, an intermediary between al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, and a leader in al-Shabaab’s use of explosives in terrorist attacks.

In December 2019, he was indicted in federal court on charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, conspiring to provide material support to al-Shabaab, and providing material support to al-Shabaab.

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The FBI assesses Mostafa to be the highest-ranking terrorist with U.S. citizenship fighting overseas.

Al-Shabaab continues to rely on financing and facilitation networks to sustain their operations and plan terrorist attacks globally.

The Department of State is offering rewards for information leading to the identification and disruption of significant sources of revenue for al-Shabaab, including its exploitation of local natural resources, financial contributions by donors and financial facilitators, financial transactions by financial institutions and exchange houses, any businesses or investments owned or controlled by al-Shabaab or its financiers, international activity by front companies tied to al-Shabaab, criminal schemes involving its members and supporters – such as kidnapping-for-ransom operations, illicit financial schemes, and transfers of funding and material by al-Shabaab to its terrorist and militia proxies and partners.