Kenyan takes charge of local Al Shabaab wing

By Cyrus Ombati

Police have confirmed that an orgnaisation linked to Al Shabaab has picked a Kenyan to head its terrorist activities in the country.

Amiir Ahmad Iman Ali has direct links to the Muslim Youth Centre (MYC) mentioned in a United Nations Monitoring Group report last year as part of the Somali-based terrorist group’s network in Kenya.

The group’s nerve centre is said to be a mosque in Pumwani, Nairobi, and the photo posted on Al Shabaab’s website above their statement shows Ali at a location believed to be in the city.

Consequently, police have stepped up their surveillance of the group and its activities countrywide, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told The Standard.

Top police officials also discussed the development at a meeting in Nairobi on Monday.

The United Nations said MYC is Al Shabaab’s recruitment, fundraising, and training and orientation wing in Kenya.

A lengthy statement published on the center’s blog on Wednesday stated that Ali is the leader and the development was motivating for the organisation’s followers in Majengo, Thika and Mombasa.

"There can be no doubt that Amiir Ahmad Iman Ali’s elevation to become the supreme Amiir of Kenya for Al Shabaab is recognition from our Somali brothers who have fought tirelessly against the kuffar (kaffir or "unbeliever") on the importance of the Kenyan mujahideen in Somalia," said the poorly worded statement.

Justified terrorist attacks

The statement warned that in the coming weeks and months "our Ali will lead the mujahideen (Islamic guerrilla fighters) to victory in Kenya and have the kuffar (kaffir) begging for mercy".

"No doubt in this long campaign against the kuffar, MYC will stand with its Amiir and with its beloved brothers al Shabaab. We will wage defensive jihad as we have been instructed to (do) so without mercy for the sake of our precious religion."

It justified the terrorist attacks on the activities of Kenya’s Anti-terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), arrest and detention of suspected terrorists, Kenya’s involvement in Somalia’s long running civil war and the presence of the United Nations in the country.

Reports say Ali was featured in combat fatigues giving a 50-minute lecture in a January 6 video produced by al-Kataib, Al Shabaab’s media foundation.

The Standard