(NEW YORK) -- The Somali government and Somali observers say the new $33
million U.S. bounty on the heads of seven al Shabaab leaders may be
just what is needed to help crush the al Qaeda affiliate, which is
already reeling from military assaults on all sides and from the air.
"The
announcement from the U.S. government . . . will certainly help the
Somali government's efforts to end al Qaeda's reign of terror in
Somalia," said Somalia's transitional government in a statement
Thursday. "This is an important juncture in Somali history, where the
possibility of full recovery from years of chaos is within reach."
Through
its Rewards for Justice program, the State Department this week offered
$7 million for information leading to the capture of al-Shabaab founder
and commander Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed, AKA Godane or Mukhtar Abu Zubeir,
$5 million apiece for four other Shabaab leaders and $3 million a head
for two more. By comparison, the U.S. had offered only $1 million for
Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was killed in a U.S. strike in Pakistan on Monday
and was described by U.S. officials as a bin Laden confidante and al
Qaeda's second-in-command.
The $33 million in Shabaab bounties
comes as the al Qaeda affiliate, which once controlled large swathes of
Somalia, is being squeezed into a smaller and smaller pocket of the
country by multiple armies. Somali government forces are pushing on one
side, while Ethiopian, Kenyan and African Union troops are pushing on
other fronts and the U.S. launches drone strikes from the air.
In
May, the Somali Army, supported by Burundian troops from the African
Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) took control of some of al Shabaab
last remaining strongholds in the Afgoi Corridor. AMISOM and Somali
troops have been pushing Shabaab out of the capital city of Mogadishu
since last August. Shabaab announced that they had abandoned Mogadishu
but continued to use guerilla and terror attacks, including an attack on
a Mogadishu theater in April that killed top sports officials but
spared the Somali prime minister.
Professor Yahye Sheik Amir,
dean of economics at Mogadishu University, said the new bounties would
make Shabaab's already furtive leadership even more "unlikely to appear
in public gatherings and mosques," though some of those named by the
State Department had once made public appearances.
"They don't
have a big space to hide since they are losing territory," said Prof.
Amir, "and this reduces their ability to work within the group." Amir
also said the Shabaab leaders were likely to become distrustful of
"everyone, suspecting their guards, relatives and wives."
Local
residents also welcomed the rewards. Said Mohamed Awale, an engineer,
"[Shabaab] is running short of funds and losing territories. They have
nothing to defend themselves with and will possibly be caught." The
Somali government took particular note of the U.S. offer of $7 million
for information leading to the capture of al-Shabaab founder Godane.
"As
the leader of terror," said the statement, "Godane is responsible for
the killing of innocent civilians across Somalia, including series of
terror attacks that al-Shabaab operated in neighboring countries."
Analysts also believe that three men for whom the U.S. offered $5
million a head, Fuad Mohamed Khalaf, Mukhtra Robow and Bashir Mohamed
Mohamoud, were integral to the group's operations and that forcing them
into hiding could cripple Shabaab's ability to act. Via - ABC
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