Spy chief says the British mum of four is believed to have directed terror raids, suicide attacks and car bombings in Somalia and Kenya
The 32-year-old mother of four’s atrocities include last month’s slaughter of 148 by gunmen at a university in Kenya, say security chiefs.
One told the Mirror in the Somalian capital, frequently bombed by al Shabaab: “This lady sits at the right hand of the leader directing attacks.”
She has been rapidly promoted through the ranks of al Shabaab after many of its leaders died in drone attacks.
The London University graduate was quickly recognised as intelligent and evil-minded enough by jihadi terror bosses to be trusted with the most horrific atrocities.
A senior Somali anti-terror officer says Lewthwaite is now at the right hand of al Shabaab leader Ahmad Umar and is suspected of ordering the deaths of more than 400 innocent people.
He said: “She is an evil person but a very clever operator.”
Lewthwaite, of Aylesbury, Bucks, is believed to have directed terror raids, suicide attacks and car bombings in Somalia and Kenya, as well as masterminding last month’s slaughter of 148 people, by gunmen at a university in Garissa, northern Kenya.
She has also launched a recruitment drive of teenagers and women as suicide bombers after bribing their desperate families with as little as £300.
One London resident blew herself up at a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu in February killing 25.
And Lewthwaite is believed to have sent brain-washed boys 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 we are not naming to protect his identity – added: “The lady has moved up the ranks. She is one of the most important figures in the terror group.
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“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.”
But he says the world’s most wanted woman is now facing the same fate as her dead former jihadist leaders. NISA operatives are working with MI6 to capture her, dead or alive.
The Somali spy chief added: “We share all our information with British agents here in Mogadishu. They are here to keep an eye on the lady and other Britons in Somalia.