Police name terrorism suspects

A Kenyan Al-Shabaab commander led the band of terrorists that killed 64 people in Mandera, police say.

Mr Mohamed Kuno from Garissa is wanted alongside another Kenyan, Mr Ahmed Iman Ali from Nairobi, who, police say, holds a senior position in the terrorist group.

Directorate of Criminal Investigations Wednesday released their photographs and asked the public to give information that could help in their arrest and other Al-Shabaab commanders for attacks committed in Kenya.

Mr Kuno is a former teacher. He was a principal at Madarasa Najah in Garissa, and has three aliases; Sheikh Mahamad, Dulyadin and Gamadheere.

Mr Iman, also known as Abu Zinira, graduated with an engineering degree at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, before joining the terrorist group.

“Anybody who spots or has information on their whereabouts should pass it to the nearest police station or administration unit for action,” says a signed dispatch from Mr Gideon Kamilu, the directorate’s deputy director.

Mr Kuno joined the group in Somalia at the time of the Islamic Courts Union, which later morphed into Al-Shabaab. Mr Iman was recruited in 2009.

Besides the killings in Mandera, the two are wanted for other attacks, especially in northern Kenya.

According to police, Mr Kuno is Al-Shabaab’s leader for Juba region, Somalia, and is in charge of external operations against Kenya.

COMMANDS TERRORISTS

He commands the terrorists along the border and is responsible for cross-border incursions into the country. In the recent past, he has intensified attacks in northern Kenya and Coast, particularly Garissa, Mandera and Lamu, the police report says.

Juba is the region of war-torn Somalia that shares a vast border with Kenya and touches Mandera, Garissa, Wajir and Lamu counties.

The report adds: “He (i.e. Kuno) claimed responsibility for the November 22 Makka Bus attack in Mandera, where 28 people were killed.”

During that attack, heavily armed gunmen stopped the bus, pulled out the passengers, isolated non-Muslims and shot them one by one.

A week later, a gang of terrorists raided a quarry, also in Mandera, and killed 36 people in the same manner. Besides being in the Somalia, Mr Kuno has “an extensive network within Kenya, particularly at the Daadab refugee camp”.

The report described Mr Iman as the head of video production at Al-Shabaab’s media department and previously the leader of Kenyan Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

“He is responsible for the preparation of media themes. He produced the propaganda videos after the September 2013 Westgate Mall attack and, recently, after the Mandera killings.” The latest video, which was posted on YouTube on December 3, has since been removed.

YouTube said the video was removed because it violated terms of service. In the clip, watched by the Nation before it was removed, Mr Iman says the Mandera killings were carried out to avenge the killing of radical Muslim clerics at the Coast.

He named them as Aboud Rogo, Samir Khan and Sheikh Abubakar Shariff alias Makaburi. The preachers were gunned down in August 2012, April 2012 and April 2014, respectively.