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The two Kenyans who planned and executed the Mandera attacks

City News
Mohamed Kune Iman Ahmed

Contrary to what many people believe, the Al-Shabaab-fuelled attacks that led to the deaths of about 70 Kenyans in a span of two weeks were spearheaded by people with deep roots in Kenya. According to police, the wife of one of the architects of the Mandera massacres is known as Hadija Nduta Njuguna, and is the current vice secretary of Pumwani Riyadha Mosque.

Her husband, Ahmed Iman( right) from Majengo in Nairobi, also served as the secretary of Pumwani Riyadha Mosque, where, according to police reports, he led youths in a hostile takeover of the mosque before leaving for Somalia in 2009. Today, he is the head of video production section within the Al-Shabaab media department and is responsible for the preparation of the terror outfit’s propaganda messages.

He produced videos after the September 2013 Westgate attack and recently after the Mandera killings. In the recent video, Iman claims that the Mandera attacks were carried out to avenge the killing of radical preachers aligned to Al-Shabaab such as Sheikh Aboud Rogo, Abubakhar Sheikh Ahmed aka Makaburi and Sheikh Samir Khan.

Radicalised under the tutelage of the late Aboud Rogo, Iman had worked for a leading oil company in Kenya before joining Al-Shabaab. The engineering graduate of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology has Meru and Bajuni heritage. He married his second wife, Famia Mustapha Karenga, in Kisauni, in June this year.

The other terror mastermind identified by police is Mohamed Kuno (left) alias Dulyadin aka Gamadhere from Garissa. He is currently in charge of external operations against Kenya. “He commands the militia along the border and is responsible for cross-border incursions in the country,” said part of the police statement.

Like Iman, Gamadhere left for Somalia in October 2009 and was charged with the responsibility of bringing Jihad to Kenya. He worked for Al-Haramain Foundation between 1993 and 1995 before the institution was closed. At the time, he was known as Sheikh Mahamad. He later became a teacher and principal at Madarasa Najah in Garissa from 1997 to 2000, where his extremist tendencies were manifested.

He has three wives. The second wife (identity unknown) is from the Marehan clan and lives in Garissa. He is also credited with having an extensive terrorist network within Kenya, particularly at the Dadaab refugee camp. Gamadhere claimed responsibility for the November 22 Makka bus attack in Mandera in which 28 people were killed.

Gamadhere’s bother, Abdi Yssuf Ali Adan alias Abdi Mulla, is an Al-Shabaab leader who accidentally shot himself with his own pistol while demonstrating safety precaution techniques to new recruits in Kismayu.

Police have now offered Sh2 million reward for any information that would lead to the arrest of the two.

 

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