White Widow ‘masterminded’ Garissa attack
The devastating Garissa University College attack that left 148 people dead was masterminded by the “White Widow” (born Samantha Lewthwaite), it has now emerged.
A report appearing in the Monday edition of Daily Mirror indicates that the British mother of four directed last month’s slaughter of 148 people, by gunmen at the university in Garissa.
The report that cities security chiefs says the 32-year-old terrorist has murdered 400 people as a key figure of Al Shabaab.
Last November, there were reports that a Sh90 million ($1million) bounty had been placed on the head of a Russian sniper who allegedly shot Lewthwaite dead in Syria. The commander of the battalion she was reported to be fighting with, however, dismissed the reports as false.
Now, a senior Somali anti-terror officer says the White Widow is at the right hand of Al Shabaab leader Ahmad Umar, having been promoted rapidly following the deaths of key leaders of the Somalia-based terror outfit. He said: “She is an evil person but a very clever operator.”
She has also launched a recruitment drive of teenagers and women as suicide bombers after bribing their desperate families with as little as Sh42,000 (£300).
She is also believed to have sent brain-washed boys, some as young as 15, to their deaths as suicide bombers – after they were pumped full of heroin.
The top officer at Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency – who Mirror did not name to protect his identity – added:
“The lady has moved up the ranks. She is one of the most important figures in the terror group. We think this lady is sitting at the right hand of the leader directing attacks.”
RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY DEATHS
He went on: “She does not carry out attacks herself as she is too important but is responsible for many, many deaths – hundreds. She uses children to kill for her after giving money to their families.”
On April 2, armed attackers forced their way into Garissa University at 5.30 a.m. after shooting at the guards manning the main gate. The attackers shot indiscriminately inside the compound.
The attackers entered the hostels and slaughtered 142 students in cold-blood. Seven security officers were also killed as they attempted to rescue the students.
Four attackers, one of them a University of Nairobi Law graduate, were killed and one taken into custody alive.