Somalia Offers Rewards for 11 Al-Shabab Leaders

Somalia’s government has placed bounties on the heads of 11 al-Shabab leaders, including the militant group’s top leader and the alleged mastermind of last week’s massacre in Kenya.

The bounties, announced Thursday, include a reward of $250,000 for the capture of al-Shabab chief Ahmed Omar Abu Ubyed, and amounts of between $100,000 and $150,000 for 10 other prominent militants.

Government spokesman Ridwan Haji Abdiwali tells VOA Somali Service that among the most wanted is Mohamed Mohamud, who allegedly planned the assault on Kenya’s Garissa University College.  The attack left 148 students dead and dozens more wounded.

The spokesman says the rewards are for the capture of the militants “or any information leading to their capture or death.”

Kenya already has offered a reward of more than $200,000 for Mohamud, also known as Dulyadeyn.

According to the United Nations, the annual per capita gross income in Somalia in 2012 was around $120.

The Somali government does not have airpower to attack the militants’ hideouts in areas still controlled by al-Shabab, raising the question of whether it will pass the information on to the United States.

The U.S. military has carried out numerous drone attacks in Somalia, including one that killed al-Shabab’s former top leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, last September.