Somalia: Al-Shabaab identifies Kenyan behind Manda Airbase attack

NAIROBI, Kenya - The Al-Shabaab militants have identified a Kenyan whom it claims participated in planning and executing the Manda Airbase attack on January 5, 2020, in what triggered a sharp change in US policy on defense in foreign countries after three Americans were killed in the unprecedented raid.

Armed Al-Shabaab militants stormed the base which is controlled by Americans leading to an immense battle that lasted for several hours before key planners were killed. The militants claimed to have killed soldiers before confiscating armoured vehicles stationed in the base.

In a video posted recently, Al-Shabaab identified Ramadan Mwani alias Abdulhaq Al-Muhajir as a suicide bomber on Barire, April 3, 2021. Video claims he was among Manda Bay attackers, Jan 5, 2020. He has generally been instrumental in instigating Al-Shabaab attacks across the country and the region.

In the video, Mwani is captured along with fellow Manda Bay attackers Ahmed Al-Muhajir of Yemen and Qudama Al-Muhajir of Ethiopia. The militants are known to be releasing such videos and photograph evidence while emphasizing the claim that the group has recruited from across the region.

The group previously identified some of the Manda Bay attackers. It just emphasizes that the attack was carried out by multi-national militants as announced by Ahmed Diriye alias Abu Ubaida, the supreme leader of Al-Shabaab who has been on US radar for the last seven years when he was announced as the heir apparent to Ahmed Godan.

Abu Ubaida had identified some of the Manda Airbase attackers as Moulana Faruq Moulana, Ahmed Al-Muhajir from Yemen and Abubakar Al-Muhajir of Tanzania, Ali Muhammad Ali, Qudama Al-Muhajir both from Ethiopia along with Abdulwali Muhammad Ibrahim “Moallim Omar” and Adam Iman Yusuf, Abdulkareem from Somalia.

The militants have previously managed to recruit fighters from Kenya leading to sustained attacks in the East African nation which has since heightened surveillance along her borders to curb the group from filtration. But still, the group manages to wage sophisticated retaliatory attacks along the border.

Last year, Al-Shabaab's attempts to penetrate Ethiopia were thwarted when the militants crossed temporarily through Dolow, leading to an operation by Ethiopia that left hundreds of them dead. Ethiopia and Kenya contributed soldiers to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] thus Al-Shabaab's fury.

GAROWE ONLINE