The United States Rewards for Justice Programme (RFJ) has offered a Sh1.2 billion increase in reward to anyone with information leading to the arrest of three Al-Shabaab leaders which totals the amount to Sh3.6 billion.
US ambassador to Somalia, Larry Andre while speaking in Nairobi yesterday doubled the reward saying that the US government will work with Somalia to defeat the militant group.
“Today we announce the doubling of the reward offers for information leading to the capture of those leading al-Shabaab. We also announce a new programme aimed at disrupting Al Shabaab financial networks,” he said.
The three al-Shabaab leaders, Ahmed Diriye, Mahad Karate and Jehad Mostafa have been on the wanted list for conducting various attacks in Somalia and Kenya and American interests.
According to Andre, the US alongside her partners has adopted an approach towards fighting al-Shabaab.
“By limiting cash flow to the group, the US and partners will strike a blow to the operations of al Shabaab,” Andre said.
While commenting on the disruption of Al-Shabaab financial networks, the US Embassy Nairobi’s Deputy Chief of Mission Marc Dillard said the move is aimed at identifying and disrupting the revenue sources and funding streams of the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist outfit.
