Assault mastermind said to be a Kenyan, 50, associated with ex-Qaeda leader
Fazul
In Summary
- The reports describe the man as tall and light-skinned with perforated
ears lobes. He is also described as being “extremely sharp”.
*By Nation Reporter*
<http://www.nation.co.ke/-/1148/1974816/-/view/asAuthor/-/tmu0up/-/index.html>
The mastermind of the Westgate shopping mall terrorist attack is suspected
to be a 50-year-old Kenyan man who is an associate of the late Al-Qaeda
leader Fazul Abdullah, the *Sunday Nation *has established.
Abu Sandheere, whose parents were a Maasai and a European, is thought to
have escaped moments after the assault started on Saturday.
“He escorted the attackers to the mall and then left as people were
fleeing. He then travelled to the border and crossed to Somalia,” said an
intelligence source.
According to counter-terrorism sources, the man seconded to Al-Shabaab by
the Al-Qaeda network arrived in Somalia on Friday after days of avoiding
the tight security that had been mounted across the country to stop
suspected terrorists from escaping.
Sandheere, said to be the regional Al-Qaeda man in charge of intelligence,
logistics and special operations, escaped from Westgate with two other
unidentified terrorists.
The reports describe the man as tall and light-skinned with perforated ears
lobes. He is also described as being “extremely sharp”.
*VALUES THE MAN*
According to the sources, Al-Shabaab values the man and only declared the
Nairobi mission accomplished when he arrived in Somalia on Friday.
“Al-Shabaab values him a lot. They were keeping their fingers crossed until
he returned to base,” the sources said.
Kenyan security agencies also say Sandheere is well educated, having
studied at an institution only identified as Al-Azhar.
We could not independently establish whether he studied at Al Azhar
University in Cairo, Egypt, or Al-Azar, which is also a religious site in
the city. The head of Al-Qaeda, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, is an Egyptian.
Al-Shabaab “formally” joined Al-Qaeda in February last year after
cooperating since 2008.
Sandheere arrived in Somalia with Fazul just after the 1998 bombing of the
US embassy in Nairobi.
*POWER STRUGGLE*
Fazul was later killed at a roadblock in Mogadishu by government forces
after years of evading Kenyan and Somali security forces.
There has been speculation that Fazul’s death was part of a power struggle
that now leaves Abu Godane as the undisputed Al-Shabaab leader.
“He arrived in Somalia with Fazul. He is also a skilled trainer of
terrorists, the trainer of the Al-Khidma within Al-Shabaab. He is very
important to the group,” said the sources.
The planning of the attack reportedly started nine months ago when the
terrorists hired a shop at the Westgate Mall.
They are said to have then brought in ammunition, automatic guns and
grenades that they used for the attack and siege which lasted for 72 hours.
According to the intelligence reports, Al-Qaeda facilitated the attack to
unite the warring factions in Al-Shabaab under Godane. There have been
recent reports of fighting in the group that has claimed casualties, mostly
foreign fighters.
Separately, an intelligence counter-terrorism brief seen by Sunday Nation
says a highly trained Al-Shabaab assassination squad of 20 could be on the
loose in the country. The squad, known as “head breakers” or Mandax Jibshe
in Somali, has a specific mandate to locate and assassinate individuals in
Nairobi and Mombasa.
The report says the killer squad could have crossed the Kenya-Somali border
between September 5-10.
According to counter-terrorism reports, the squad is led by Salaad Hassan
and Khadar Abdi Abubakar and its members are trained in use of small arms.
The squad members are said to have entered Kenya disguised as refugees and
registered at Hagadera refugee camp where they were helped by a Mr Ahmed
Bishar and an Amniyat (Al-Shabaab intelligence network) which operates both
in Kenya and Somalia.
The squad is said to have received forged refugee documents in early
September in preparation for their entry into the refugee camp in Kenya and
later to their intended destinations in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Their suspected entry into Kenya has resulted in increased activities by
the Amniyats in Northern Kenya, where it believed their activities are
aimed at giving them cover.
According to the situation reports, the spies also run the supply line of
explosives and other weapons used by terror cells in Nairobi and Mombasa.
“Al-Shabaab spies and Amniyat operatives have continued to pour into the
country, especially in the North Eastern region and facilitating terror
activities to the extent of engaging and controlling economic activities,
some of which are illegal, “says the report.
The squad is backed by Al-Shabaab cells in the country — young men who
joined the terror group to fight in Somalia but only to be displaced after
the Kenya Defence Forces liberated Jubaland during Operation Linda Nchi.
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