KDF soldiers patrolling the Westgate mall on September 24, 2013. A British national has been arrested over the attack. PHOTO/ JEFF ANGOTE
US forces struck two militant targets in Africa, snatching a top Al-Qaeda suspect from the streets of Tripoli and launching a pre-dawn raid against an Al-Shabaab leader’s home in Somalia as investigations into the Westgate mall terror attack intensified.
And in Kenya, police on Sunday released pictures of two terror suspects they said were linked to the Westgate attack. Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo offered a reward of Sh500,000 each for information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects.
He said the two bought a Mitsubishi Lancer that was used during the terrorist attack on the up-market shopping mall.
In Libya, Abu Anas al-Libi — a wanted Al-Qaeda operative indicted over the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania — was seized in the streets of Tripoli by US Seals.
US soldiers also raided the southern Somali port of Barawe on Saturday but failed to capture an Al-Shabaab leader believed to be Ahmed Abdi Godane, who is the founder and commander of the terrorist group.
Godane is also known as Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr. It was unclear whether he had been killed but a US official said several members of the militant group had been killed in the raid.
“As the result of a US counter-terrorism operation, Abu Anas al-Libi is currently lawfully detained by the US military in a secure location outside of Libya,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement.
A source close to Libi told AFP that he was seized by armed men in Tripoli.
Libi, who was on the FBI’s most wanted list with a $5 million reward, was indicted in a US federal court in New York for allegedly playing a key role in the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. The attacks killed more than 250 people.
The Tripoli operation ended a 15-year hunt for Libi, a key Al-Qaeda operative born under the name of Nazih Abdul Hamed Al-Raghie.
Libi, now 49, had allegedly planned the 1998 embassy bombing in Nairobi “in retaliation” for US military involvement in Somalia, according to a US indictment filed 13 years ago.
PLOTTING ATTACK
He is believed to have started plotting the attack on the US embassy in Kenya in 1993, the indictment says.
“We hope that this makes clear that the United States of America will never stop in its effort to hold those who conduct acts of terror,” said Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday, speaking from the Indonesian island of Bali.
The action should also make clear that “those members of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations literally can run, but they can’t hide,” said Mr Kerry.
The raid took place in broad daylight with the knowledge of the Libyan government, a US official told CNN. However, Libyan security services said they were unaware of any kidnapping or arrest of the man.
“The Libyan government has been following the reports of the kidnap of one of the Libyan citizens wanted by the authorities in the United States,” a government statement said. “As soon as it heard the reports, the Libyan government contacted the US authorities to demand an explanation.”
On the Somalia operation, a US official said its soldiers sought to capture a “high-value” Al-Shabaab leader. The operation marked the most significant US assault in Somalia since commandos killed key Al-Qaeda operative Saleh Nabhan in the same area four years ago.
“US personnel took all necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties in this operation and disengaged after inflicting some Al-Shabaab casualties,” the official said.
Declining to identify the people who died, the official said that “even in these extreme operational circumstances, the US military is very cautious to minimise civilian casualties.”
Al-Shabaab leaders in Barawe, one of the few ports left in the hands of the insurgents, said commandos attacked from the sea and the air but failed in their attempt to storm a house belonging to a senior commander.
Although the militant leader was believed to have been killed during the assault, the Seals had to withdraw before they could confirm the kill, a senior US official told the New York Times.
“The Barawe raid was planned a week and a half ago,” he told the newspaper. “It was prompted by the Westgate attack.”
A senior Somali government official told the newspaper that “the attack was carried out by the American forces and the Somali government was pre-informed about the attack.”
Al-Shabaab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told AFP that commandos had stormed the beach by boat, but blamed Britain and Turkey.
“The bungled operation was carried out by white people, who came in two small boats from a larger ship out at sea ... one Al-Shabaab guard was killed, but reinforcements soon came and the foreigners fled,” he said.
Additional reporting by New York Times News Service