Notorious Al-Shabaab commander Iman Ali may be free and roaming about despite reports that he succumbed to KDF airstrike in March this year, Islamic scholar C Anzalone has claimed.
The Islamic militants have released a series of lectures through their media outlets asking God to protect him, a suggestion that he's still alive and involved in Al-Shabaab's operations.
In a tweet, the Harvard University scholar said it's rare for Al-Shabaab to lie about the death of their commanders, adding that Kenya intelligence team may have been mislead.
"In March, Kenyan news media reported that the KDF was claiming, for the fifth time, that it had killed Ahmad Iman 'Ali, Kenyan senior commander & preacher in Al-Shabab. A newly launched religious lectures series, asking God to protect him, suggests the KDF was wrong again," he wrote.
His claims were collaborated by Voice of America journalist Harun Maruf, who said that his investigations showed that the notorious commander who acts as Al-Shabaab link to Kenya, was only ill and did not die as reported.
"I’ve spoken to multiple sources when the news was reported back in March, they could not verify that he was killed. Instead, there was fresh report that he had illness; rheumatism was mentioned. I would say highly likely he is alive," Maruf said.
While intelligence sources maintained that Ali had died in a KDF or allied forces strike in March, KDF team remains non committal over the positive news.
"An airstrike may have killed Kenyan born terrorist and group top commander, Ahmad Iman Ali and over 40 other members of the Al-Qaeda branch in Somalia, Harakat Shabaab Mujahideen," RTN Somali TV station reported.
The latest update from the two most reliable sources from the Horn of Africa nation could lead to another crackdown by KDF in pursuit of him.