Somalia says founding Al-Shabaab leader killed in joint strike
MOGADISHU, July 20 – A founding member of Al-Shabaab who sat on the militant group’s powerful Shura Council has been killed in a joint military operation following more than a year of intelligence work, Somalia said Monday.
Speaking at a press conference in Mogadishu, Somali Defence Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi said Somali security forces, backed by international partners, carried out the operation on July 5, 2026, after a 14-month investigation and surveillance campaign focused on Ibrahim “Moalim Jinaaw”.
Fiqi said the strike targeted a hut on a farm in the Sabiyo area, located between Afgooye and Basra districts in the Lower Shabelle region. The militant leader had been staying there under the protection of Al-Shabaab fighters.
The minister described Ibrahim “Moalim Jinaaw” as one of Al-Shabaab’s founders and the ninth member of its Shura Council, the group’s highest decision-making body.
According to Fiqi, the commander helped direct Al-Shabaab’s military operations, managed its extortion network and coordinated attacks. He also served as a close senior adviser to the group’s leader, Ahmed Diriye, also known as Abu Ubaidah.
Fiqi accused Ibrahim “Moalin Jinaaw” of supervising attacks and abuses across Bay, Bakool, Hiraan and Galgaduud. Those activities included killings, the forced recruitment of children, confiscating weapons from local communities and intimidating traditional elders.
The defence minister said the government verified the militant leader’s death through intelligence confirming that he was killed in the strike.
He placed the operation within Somalia’s broader effort to dismantle Al-Shabaab’s senior command, noting that several top commanders have been killed in recent years. Military action will continue until all of the group’s senior leaders are eliminated, he added.
Fiqi praised the Somali National Army and the country’s security agencies for conducting the operation, while thanking international partners for their continued support in the fight against Al-Shabaab.
AXADLETM
