The faces believed to be behind the Westgate terror attack

 Ahmed Abdi Godane, alias, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr
Mukthar is the Al-Shabaab founder and overall commander. According to leaked National Security Intelligence (NIS) report,Godane held a series of meetings in Somalia early this year to formulate strategies on how they would execute attacks in key areas in Kenya. The American FBI has put a $7 million bounty on him.

Mukthar, who was born in northern Somalia and has been at the helm of Al-shabaab leadership since 2008, studied accounting in Pakistan and while there he occasionally travelled to Afghanistan where he came into contact with al-Qaeda, led by the late Osama bin Laden.


Sheikh Mukhtar Robow alias Abu Mansur  
 According to leaked NIS report, Sheikh Robow, Al- shabaab deputy leader together with other al-shabaab instruments arrived in Hela Marer area, Gedo region, from Ufuro area in the Bay region, Somalia, on March 22.

They held a meeting with 50 other leaders where they discussed the mode of training for their operatives as well as plan on how to carry out attacks on vital installations in Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Mombasa and Nairobi.

The FBI has put a $5 million bounty on Robow. He is also a former spokesman of the militants.

Sheikh Ahmed Iman Ali

According to a leaked National Security Intelligence report, Iman — who was appointed by Al-Shabaab as its de facto leader of Kenyan fighters in Somalia — was among the masterminds of the Westgate attack.

“Al-Shabaab remains focused on conducting attacks through individuals that have not been arrested before. The masterminds of the intended attacks are Kenyans, who are in middle and senior management levels of the terror group.

Among them; Maalim Abass Guyo, Ahmed Iman Ali and Jan Mohamed Khan alias Abu Musab Al Mombasa,” the NIS report says.

Samantha Lewthwaite alias “White Widow"
International media has claimed that she was involved in the Westgate terrorism attack.

However, there is no evidence so far linking her to the attack but police and security forces say Samantha Lewthwaite— the widow of one of the four suicide bombers who devastated London in July 2005 — was involved in the Kenya attack, let alone being a “mastermind,” as the British papers have claimed.

The International Police (Interpol) has issued an arrest warrant for her. She is wanted by Kenya “on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011” as part of a suspected plot to bomb cities along the Kenyan coast at Christmas.


Abu Sandheere
Abu is believed to have been in charge of escorting the terrorists to Westgate Shopping Mall to carry out the attack.

According to a leaked NSIS report, Abu is believed to be a 50-year-old Kenyan citizen and an associate of the late Al-Qaeda leader in th eregion Fazul Abdullah. Sandheere, whose parents were a Maasai and a European, is thought to have escaped from Westgate moments after the assault started on Saturday.

“He escorted the attackers to the mall and then left as people were fleeing. He then travelled to the border and crossed to Somalia,” said an intelligence source. He is described as being extremely sharp.