WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United States has has announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the identification or location of Ali Mohamed Rage, who is a key leader of the terrorist outfit al-Shabaab.
Ali Mohamed Rage, also known as Ali Dheere, has been al-Shabaab's chief spokesperson since May 2009 and is a senior leader of the terrorist organization.
The Somalia-born Rage has been involved in the planning of terrorist attacks in Kenya and Somalia.
In August, 2021, the Department of State designated Rage as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
In February, 2022, the UN Security Council's Somalia Sanctions Committee added Rage to its Sanctions List.
Many U.S. citizens were killed in terrorist attacks carried out by Al-Shabaab in Kenya, Somalia, and neighboring African countries.
The terrorist group continues to plot, plan, and conspire to commit terrorist acts against the United States, U.S. interests, and foreign partners, according to the State Department.
The Department of State designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist in March 2008. In April 2010, al-Shabaab was also added to the UN Security Council's 1844 Sanctions List.
Since its inception in 1984, the State Department's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program has paid around $250 million to more than 125 people across the globe for providing actionable information that had helped resolve threats to U.S. national security.
A Salafi-jihadist military and political organization based in Somalia and active elsewhere in East Africa, Al-Shabaab is actively involved in the ongoing Somali Civil War and incorporates elements of Somali nationalism into its Islamist cause.
A combined Somali and ATMIS offensive operations against al-Shabaab, with U.S. support, began in August 2022. With assistance from U.S. airstrikes, it has been focused on disrupting al-Shabaab activity in Somalia's central Hiraan region.
Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2023 AFX News
