Al-Shabab Spokesman, Ali Mohamud Rageh, who is famously known as Ali Dheere has denied recent reports saying that he has died of injuries he sustained from an air strike carried out in mid January.
Speaking to a Radio station run by the hard-line extremists, he said that those ‘’rumours’’ were incorrect.
‘’ I am alive. Nothing has happened to me. Kenyan officials are under pressure from the families of the Soldiers that have invaded our country, it has caused them to spread such false news,’’ he said.
The denial came after Kenyan military Spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir earlier this month posted on his twitter account a statement in which he claimed that the Spokesman died from injuries he sustained from an air strike carried by Kenyan Air forces in one of the hideouts of the group in Gedo region of Somalia.
In the past two weeks, the al-Qaeda-linked militant group lost major military strongholds and strategic towns in Southern and Central Somalia.
On Thursday, the joint troops captured Bulo-burde, which is some 200 km north of the capital Mogadishu, a strategic town which links up Southern and Central Somalia towns.
Al-Shabab used the town as a supply center and used to collect tax from the Vehicles travelling along the highway.
Somali government Soldiers backed by the African Union troops launched major military operations in which they are planning to seize all the towns still under the control of the group.
U.S. state of department on Friday authorized rewards of up to $3 million on information of three members of the group, which are linked to the last year’s attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi.
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