Assault mastermind said to be a Kenyan, 50, associated with ex-Qaeda leader Fazul

 

The alleged mastermind of the 1998 twin bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam Fazul Abdullah has reportedly been killed by Somalia government forces in Mogadishu. AFRICA REVIEW | FILE  

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

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.