Kenya's army says it has killed the intelligence chief for the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab, but the group is denying the claim.
Military spokesman David Obonyo told reporters Thursday that Mahad Karate, also known as Abdirahim Mohamed Warsame, was killed along with 10 mid-level members of the Islamist group in an airstrike in southern Somalia on February 8.
A pro-al-Shabab website is reporting that the report is false, and that Karate is fine. It says no airstrikes hit the camp.
The U.S. State Department has offered a $5 million reward for information that brings Karate "to justice." It says he plays a key role in the Amnyiat, the wing of al-Shabab responsible for the assault on Kenya's Garissa University last April that killed nearly 150 people.
Al-Shabab has carried out numerous attacks in Kenya since the government sent troops into Somalia to fight Al-Shabab in 2011.
