Highlights:
Al Shabaab assassin with a $5 million bounty on his head for the assassination of USAID worker John Granville in Khartoum, Sudan 2008 has been killed in Somalia.
Mohammed Makkawi who escaped prison in Sudan to Somalia is among the many pro-ISIL militants that were openly persecuted for seeking to defect from al Shabaab to join ISIL.
Summary:
The rivalry between the two opposing faction of al Shabaab (pro-ISIL and the al Qaeda) has accelerated to become dire and violent after open persecution of member seeking to defect from al Shabaab to ISIL are hunted and violently murdered.
Most militants linked to joining the Islamic State according to OSINT have run and are hiding in the bushes to secure their lives.
Among those that were killed is Mohammed Makkawi who was leader of an active al Shabaab cell in Khartoum Sudan and that was responsible for the killing of USAID workers in 2008. Makkawi was arrested and sentenced to death only for him and his colleagues to escape prison and into Somalia where he was a senior leader.
Since his escape the United States offered a $5 million bounty for any information that could lead to his arrest.
The allegiance rift in Somalia according to experts is likely to be al Shabaab’s downfall seeing as some of the militants are opting to surrender to authorities or live out in the bushes for fear of persecution from the leadership that has reaffirmed their staunch allegiance to al Qaeda and vowed to eradicate or ISIL elements in Somalia by all means necessary.
