The United States government has announced a reward of Ksh1.2 billion for information leading to the whereabouts of an Al-Shabaab operative, Abdullahi Banati, connected to the 2020 Manda Bay attack in Lamu.
In the announcement, the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) Program stated that Banati played a role in the operational planning of the January 2020 pre-dawn raid on Camp Simba, a military installation within the Cooperative Security Location (CSL) in Manda Bay.
According to the department, the al Shabaab militants launched a mortar at the Kenyan and US positions inside the base. They simultaneously fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at the adjacent Manda Bay field.
The attack
The Manda Bay field attack claimed the lives of three US personnel (two DoD contractor pilots and a US Army specialist acting as an air traffic controller) and left a Kenyan soldier wounded.
“Don’t let his smile fool you. Abdullahi Banati is a terrorist. Reward up to $10 million for info on Banati for his role in the Jan. 2020 MandaBay attack by Al-Shabaab in Kenya. Submit a tip, stop a terrorist,” the RFJ program urged in a statement on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
The Manda Bay Airfield is part of a Kenyan Defence Forces military base utilised by US armed forces to provide training and counterterrorism support to East African partners, respond to crises, and protect US interests in the region.
In March 2022, the Pentagon released a review of the attack, revealing how Kenyan troops supported their US counterparts in pacifying the situation.
Investigation
US Africa Command’s Army Regulation 15-6 investigation, along with a Secretary of Defence-directed independent review, found that the “proximate cause of the loss of life and damage to property was the attack by a massed force of 30 to 40 determined, disciplined, and well-resourced al-Shabaab fighters.”
“The investigation and independent review further found that no single point of failure resulted in the loss of life and damage to property, and no single act or omission would have avoided the attack,” the US Department of Defence stated.
“US Africa Command directed a series of measures to improve force protection at all locations on the continent, and it continues to implement improvements to force protection, intelligence sharing, security force preparation, and mission command as identified by the 15-6 and independent review,” the Defense Department noted following the Manda Bay Airfield attack.
