The U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $5 million for information about the whereabouts of Ali Mohamed Rage, also known as Ali Dheere, a senior leader of al-Shabaab. The department’s announcement on Tuesday came nearly 15 years after it declared al-Shabaab a Foreign Terrorist Organization in March 2008.
The Mogadishu-born Rage has planned attacks in Kenya and Somalia, according to the department, which labeled him a specially designated global terrorist in August 2021. The U.N. Security Council has also sanctioned Rage.
“Al-Shabaab is responsible for terrorist attacks in Kenya, Somalia and neighboring countries that resulted in loss of life, including of U.S. citizens,” stated Foggy Bottom. “The terrorist group continues to plot, plan and conspire to commit terrorist acts against the United States, U.S. interests and foreign partners.”
In 2019, Al-Shabaab said its deadly attack in Nairobi, Kenya, was a response to then-President Donald Trump recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
An American Jew, Jason Spindler, was among the nearly two-dozen people killed.
