Mogadishu Says Al-Shabaab Co-Founder Killed in Strike Two Days Before Group’s Car Bomb Attack
Al-Shabaab fighters display weapons as they conduct military exercises in northern Mogadishu, Somalia (File)
The Somalia government announced on Sunday that Abdullahi Nadir, who helped found the Al-Qaeda-aligned terrorist group Al-Shabaab*, had been killed two days prior.Mogadishu said in a statement that Nadir had been killed in Haramka village in Middle Juba, a southerly region bordering Kenya and Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, where Al-Shabaab has long held sway.“His death is a thorn removed from the Somali nation, and the Somali people will be relieved from his misguidance and horrific acts,” the statement said, adding that Nadir was expected to take over leadership of the group after the current leader, Ahmed Diriye.Nadir had a $3 million bounty on his head issued by the US government and the raid was carried out in conjunction with unnamed international partners, which most likely refers to US Africa Command (AFRICOM). However, the African Union also has a mission in Somalia.Al-Shabaab was created in the early 2000s amid the devastating civil war that followed the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic in 1991. Originally part of the Islamic Courts Union alliance, Al-Shabaab emerged as a prominent resistance force after Ethiopian forces, under the command of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), invaded Somalia in 2006 and overthrew the ICU government.After being driven from Somalia’s central cities by an international force between 2011 and 2013, Al-Shabaab retained control over large rural areas and intensified its terrorist campaign, striking numerous civilian targets, including hotels, shopping malls, and street markets.A UN report from February 2022 estimated the group to have between 7,000 and 12,000 active fighters in its ranks.President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected in May in a vote delayed by nearly two years due to political infighting, ran on a platform pledging to tackle the Al-Shabaab threat more comprehensively than his predecessor, Mohammad Abdullahi Mohammad.Almost immediately after taking office, Mohamud invited US troops back into the country. Although they had formally withdrawn in late 2020, in reality, US Special Forces and the CIA continued their counterterrorism operations in Somalia from bases in Djibouti and Kenya.Just a day after the announcement of Nadir’s death, Al-Shabaab staged a new terrorist bombing in Beledweyne, the capital of Somalia’s northwestern Hiran region, killing at least 12 people.Hiran governor Ali Jayte Osman told the Associated Press the attack had targeted the Lama-Galaay military camp, which doubles as the local government headquarters, badly damaging the facility and killing the health minister of Hirshabelle state and the deputy governor of Hiran in charge of finance.“The first explosion occurred at the entrance gate, and after a few minutes a big truck rushed toward the headquarters building and exploded, killing many civilians who came to the office to receive services,” Osman said. “This attack was carried out by cowards, but their brutal acts will never distract from the public uprising against them.”“I have seen with my own eyes several bodies that were discovered from the wreckage of the attack, human flesh scattered on the ground,” he added.*A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
