U.S Department of State
Press Release
Friday, March 14, 2014
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program is offering rewards for information on three members of the Somalia-based terrorist organization Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin, al-Shabaab. The Department has authorized rewards of up to $3 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Abdikadir Mohamed Abdikadir, Jafar, and Yasin Kilwe.
Since 2006, al-Shabaab has killed thousands of civilians, aid workers, and peacekeepers in Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the July 11, 2010, suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, which killed more than 70 people, including one American citizen. Al-Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the September 21-24, 2013, terrorist attack against the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi that left more than 60 people dead and nearly 200 wounded.
Al-Shabaab’s terrorist activities pose a threat to the stability of East Africa and to the national security interests of the United States. The U.S. Secretary of State named al-Shabaab a Foreign Terrorist Organization on March 18, 2008. In February 2012, al-Shabaab and the al-Qaida terrorist network jointly announced they had formed an alliance.
Abdikadir, better known as Ikrima, was born in 1979 in Kenya to Somali parents. Ikrima reportedly has medium-length hair and has worn a thick moustache. He is missing three fingers on his left hand. He has coordinated the recruitment of Kenyan youth into al-Shabaab and commanded a force of al-Shabaab’s Kenyan fighters in Somalia.
Jafar, also known as Amar, is an al-Shabaab facilitator and has served as Ikrima’s deputy, and is reportedly missing one eye.
Yasin Kilwe is al-Shabaab’s emir for Puntland in northern Somalia. Kilwe was officially appointed al-Shabaab’s leader in the region by Al-Shabaab emir Ahmed Abdi aw-Godane. Kilwe pledged his allegiance to al-Shabaab and al-Qaida in February 2012.
More information about these individuals is located on the Rewards for Justice website at www.rewardsforjustice.net. We encourage anyone with information on these individuals to contact the Rewards for Justice office via the website, e-mail ([email protected]), phone (1-800-877-3927), or mail (Rewards for Justice, Washington, D.C., 20520-0303, USA). All information will be kept strictly confidential.
The Rewards for Justice program is administered by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid in excess of $125 million to more than 80 people who provided actionable information that put terrorists behind bars or prevented acts of international terrorism worldwide.