For information leading to the arrest of or conviction of an al Shabab leader responsible for the January 2020 Manda Bay attack, which left three Americans dead, the State Department will offer a reward up to $10,000,000.
Al-Shabaab fighters opened fire on Camp Simba and a Kenyan Defense Forces station in the early hours of January 5, 2020. They also attacked the airfield simultaneously. The attack involved between 30-40 terrorists. U.S. Army Spc. Henry Mayfield Jr., and two contractors, Bruce Triplett, and Dustin Harrison were both killed.
Reward for Justice (RFJ), the department’s reward program, announced the new $10,000,000 reward on Thursday. They specifically named Maalim Ayman as the leader of Jaysh Ayman al-Shabaab group that conducted terror attacks in Somalia and Kenya, as well the person responsible for the January 2020 attack.
Investigators discovered that the base had a culture of complacency, despite not having committed any criminal acts. Following two parallel investigations into the Manda Bay attack, eight airmen were disciplined.
“We weren’t as prepared at Manda Bay,” Gen. Stephen Townsend (then-head of Africa Command) stated in March in a video presentation at the Pentagon.
Air Force spokesperson Brig. In a statement, Gen. Patrick Ryder stated that at the time. “These factors included an insufficient force protection focus, an inadequate understanding about the threat, inadequate security force preparation, and problems with mission command including poor unity at the tactical level.
Townsend, who is now retired, said to the Senate Armed Services Committee mid-March, that al Shabab had “only grown stronger and bolder in the past year,” while deadly terrorism “has metastasized into Africa.”
