An Al-Shabaab spokesman died on Wednesday, nearly two months after he was injured in an air strike by Kenya Defence Forces in Somalia.| May we please see the severed head? |
However, another post on twitter came out later by a man claiming he had spoken to Ali Dhere.
| "He's not dead yet!" |
It further quoted the Al-Shabaab spokesman to have said: "He (Maj Chirchir) is doing what he always did, lying to his people. I'm well. Very well."
Ali Dhere sustained the injuries after the air strike at Birta Dheere area in Somalia on January 10. The air strike targeted Al-Shabaab overall leader Muktar Abdirahman Godane, but he escaped by a whisker because he left the area a few minutes before Kenya Air Force F-5 jets launched the attack.
| Ah the F-5, always a minute late... |
Military sources said more than 30 senior Al-Shabaab commanders were killed that day including a Kenyan from Garissa identified as Gamadhere, who was responsible for many grenade attacks that have been carried out in Kenya. Six commanders of different nationalities also died in the strike.
Ali Dheere was the public face of the terrorist group and was last seen in an interview broadcast last month, demanding withdrawal of KDF troops from Somalia and threatening more attacks in Kenya, saying the Westgate massacre was carried out to send a message.
During the interview with Al-Jazeera TV network, he also claimed that Al-Shabaab would regain control of towns that had been liberated by KDF. He also named Britain as a key enemy for supporting the KDF and urged "young British Muslims" to join the war in Somalia.