Security agents say missing youth have joined al Shabaab.
There is concern that thousands of youth reportedly missing
from learning institutions or their homes might have been recruited into the
militant group and travelled to Somalia for training.
In early October, a standard eight pupils suspected to have
been radicalised and recruited into al Shabaab was arrested by anti-terrorism
police in Nairobi.
The 14-year-old was scheduled to sit his Kenya Certificate
of Primary Education examination. He, alongside 19 others, was in a hideout at
the posh Kilileshwa estate.
They had been recruited by al Shabaab agents and kept in an
expensive suburb apartment where they were given radical teachings and trained
on how to handle guns in preparation for their travel to Somalia within two
months.
Members of the al Shabaab cell rented the house for Sh75,
000 per month.
Had the 14-year-old and his colleagues been successfully
smuggled to Somalia, security agents say this would have been blamed on
‘extrajudicial killings’ and ‘enforced disappearances’ perpetrated by the
police.
Although the police managed to rescue the 20 children, some
20 others are reported to have been sneaked out to Somalia earlier.
Security agencies now fear that the thousands of youth
reportedly missing from learning institutions or their homes might have been
recruited into al Shabaab and travelled to Somalia for training.
The police are cautioning parents to watch over their children
and monitor their activities especially during this festive period, lest they
fall prey to the allure of money offered by the al Shabaab recruiters who often
instruct the recruits not to contact their families.
Hundreds of desperate families across the country have
reported the disappearance of their children, most of whom have since been
confirmed to have travelled to Somalia to join al Shabaab militants who are
battling for control of the Horn of Africa country.
Intelligence reports have confirmed that al Shabaab
recruiters are not only targeting youth in Muslim-dominated areas like Mandera,
Garissa, Wajir, Mombasa, Isiolo and Marsabit, but they are now moving further
to Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisumu, Busia, Kakamega and other major towns.
Apart from targeting schools, universities and other
learning institutions, the recruiters are eyeing vulnerable youth, especially
those who are idle and economically disenfranchised.
One Isiolo parent, Zainab Hashi, reported how her son
disappeared from home on May 1, 2015 for a supposed Islamic retreat, only to
receive a phone call from him a week later confirming her worst fear — her son
had joined al Shabaab.
Kenyan security officers arrested him and three other boys
as they attempted to cross into Somalia through Liboi.
Halima Hassan's teenage brother joined al Shabaab a year and
half ago, shortly after he had asked for Sh4,000 for a school trip that never
was.
Hussein Sara Hassan was arrested last July in Mombasa for
recruiting six youth into al Shabaab. The recruits were identified as Abdifath
Hassan, Ali Abdulahi Ismael Sheik, Muhamed Isack Muhume Ibrahim, Ali Hassan Abubakar
and Aweys Mohammed Shee.
When they were presented in court, the police argued that
the suspects are linked to al Shabaab sympathisers, who have been aiding in youth
recruitment in Coast region.
Hassan admitted to have travelled to Somalia numerous times.
He however denied being a member of al Shabaab.
"I have been to Somalia numerous times. I came back about
two weeks ago but that doesn’t mean I am a citizen of that country, and also it
doesn’t mean I am linked to al Shabaab,” he said
Intelligence reports reveal that al Shabaab recruiters in
Kenya are using ingenious advertisements, both online and in mainstream media,
to lure unsuspecting youth with promises of college opportunities in Somalia
and the Middle East.
Police have identified some of the suspects behind the
disappearances as Abdifatah Abubakar Ahmed and Ahmed Iman Ali.
Abdifatah is believed to have sway on the youth in Mombasa
and the entire coastal region. He is also accused of being responsible for a
series of terror attacks at Coast and co-ordinating al Shabaab activities.
He was allegedly among commanders of Jesh Ayman in the Boni
forest and spearheaded attacks in Lamu, Tana River County and was involved in
the planning of the Westgate Mall attack that claimed 67 lives in September
2013.
Police say Abdifatah was also involved in the recruitment of
youth at the Coast to join al Shabaab. The women he allegedly recruited include
Ummul Khayr Sadir, Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir and Maryam Said Aboud. The three
were arrested in El Wak while attempting to cross to Somalia.
In Northern Kenya, 10 students from Isiolo Boys High school
were last year reported to have quit school to join al Shabaab in Somalia.
Other students from Marsabit Mixed Secondary School and Moi
Girls Secondary, also in Marsabit, Koseka Secondary, Birunda PAG Primary and St
Patrick’s Bumula Secondary School in Western Kenya were reported to have
escaped from school and joined the insurgent group.
In total, more than 200 pupils are reported to have
disappeared from school in Isiolo and joined al Shabaab, although some of
parents say their whereabouts are unknown.
To have them on their side and use them for propaganda, the
police say al Shabaab recruiters encourage and offer recruits' families support
and regular cash rewards, which never comes once the youth arrive in Somalia.
In late April, Kenyan security agencies published a list of
85 people allegedly involved in terror-related activities.
On that list was Abdi Ibrahim Adan, a primary school teacher
in Isiolo who has since denied any association with al Shabaab.
In October last year, Pumwani Estate residents in Nairobi
attacked madrassa teachers, accusing them of recruiting their children into al
Shabaab.
They demanded that the Anti Terrorism Police Unit
investigate the activities of the madrasa teachers whom they accused of using
the schools to smuggle youth, some as young as 15, to join the militant group.
"There is this group that came here about a year ago and
claimed to take our children abroad. These people took my son and later I
received a telephone call informing me that my son had died. They didn’t tell
me where he died and neither did I receive his body,” the distraught parent
narrated.
Shamsa Shariff Mohamed, a woman police believe is the wife
of wanted al Shabaab fighter Abdalla bin Abdalla, was recently charged in court
for forging identification documents and giving false information.
She was arrested in late July following investigations by
detectives into the network of recruiters luring young Kenyan women to join al
Shabaab and marry fighters in Somalia.
Shamsa pleaded guilty at a Garissa court on August 7 and was
fined Sh120,000.
Early this year, three young women were arrested in Mandera
near the border to Somalia. The three were identified as Ummukhayr Sadri
Abdullah, Maryam Said Aboud and Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir.
Intelligence reports indicate that prior to joining al
Shabaab in Somalia, Abdalla bin Abdalla lived in Majengo Highrise estate in
Nairobi and went to school in Shauri Moyo. He is associated with the late
Hassan Omondi Owiti alias Budalangi and al Shabaab leader Ahmed Imani.
Intelligence reports reveal that Hassan Owiti was a trained
militia who participated in various attacks in Nairobi in 2012. He was killed
in May 2013 in a gunfight with police at his Githurai estate house in Nairobi.
Hassan and Abdalla were reportedly radicalised at darsas at
Pumwani Riyadha mosque that has been associated with key al Shabaab leader
Ahmed Imani.
About Jeysh Ayman
A unit of al Shabaab terrorists, code-named Jeysh Ayman,
many of its members Kenyans, is responsible for the terror attacks in the
country.
Jeysh Ayman’s objective is to wrest control of Kenya’s
predominantly Muslim Coast from the national and county governments. They
believe carrying out attacks to destroy the tourism industry and ruin the
economy can do this.
They calculate that attacking the Kenya government and
Christian targets will create chaos in the country.
The six-year-old group was founded by a Kenyan Somali,
Maalim Ayman, aka Abdiaziz Dubow Ali, of Mandera county. However, it also has
Somalis and foreign fighters within its ranks.
Former al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane directly funded
Jeysh Ayman’s activities. He was killed in a US air strike in September 2014.
Key Kenyan fighter Mussa Assad also died, but Ahmed Iman
Ali, Abdifatah Abubakar Abdi, aka Musa Muhajir, and Maalim Ayman operated along
the Kenya/Somalia border.
Intelligence reports indicate that JA, as the terror group’s
unit is popularly referred to among jihadists, was initially formed to conduct
ambushes and raids along the border but later included attacks on Kenya Defence
Forces and Amisom troops among its targets.
Ambush squads like the so-called ‘10 Metre Squad’, composed
of between 10 and 15 fighters, concentrated their operations in Kenya's Lacta
Belt area, in Northeastern region, and had a base in the vast Boni Forest.
They are better equipped than all other units, with most of
the fighters armed with AK-47 rifles, hand grenades and machineguns. They are
trained to navigate treacherous terrain, walk long distances and use donkeys
and camels for transportation.
"They are considered to be the toughest jabha [frontline]
unit in al Shabaab and require a special selection process. Members are
deployed for between six months and a year, with only one month off.
"The group's six-month training is hard because it
involves a lot of walking, up to days at a time, covering hundreds of kilometers,”
one security report says.
Jeysh Ayman is led by Amir Ramzi as head of unit and weapons, Habib Karongo from Nairobi's Majengo as physical fitness trainer, Ahmad Iman Ali, aka Abu Zinira, in charge of da’wah (preaching) and Maalim Ayman, wilderness survival trainer.
Security agents say missing youth have joined al Shabaab.
Photos and names of suspects believed to be Al Shabaab operatives within the country. Photos/COURTESY.