Godane's loyalists quickly chose the new Emir Mahad Omar Abdikarim aka Ahmed Omar Abu Obeida...
Godane's loyalists quickly chose the new Emir Mahad Omar Abdikarim aka Ahmed Omar Abu Obeida...
Abu Obeida a cousin and close advisor of Godane was a founding father of the Amniyat and was also instrumental in Godane's purges of dissenting Shabaab leaders...
Within days of Godane's death Abu Obeida had met and made up with Fuad Mohamed Khalaf 'Shongole' a ruthless Shabaab warlord whose loyalty to Godane was tested when the former Emir captured Sheikh Hassan Dahir 'Aweys' who had been the Islamist militia's spiritual leader...
Abu Obeida also released about 30 mid-level commanders and foreign fighters from Al Shabaab dungeons in the coastal town of Barawe...
Ikrima who was targeted by US Navy Seals in a failed strike in Barawe last year is understood to be pressuring Abu Obeida to shift his allegiance from Al Qaida's Egyptian leader Ayman al Zawahiri to Ibrahim ibn Awad al Samarrai aka Abu Bakr al Baghdadi of IS...
After Abu Obeida's elevation Al Shabaab re-affirmed its links to Al Qaida but it is likely that Ikrima and his allies may already be operating a separate internationalist network within Al Shabaab...
It may not be under Abu Obeida's control...