The U.S. government has pegged Abdulqadir Mumin as the honcho of the ISIS faction in Somalia. Yet, clandestinely, he ascended to the throne of the global terror outfit last year, according to a pair of American officials.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced on May 31 that it had launched a drone strike targeting ISIS extremists in a secluded zone 81 kilometers (roughly 50 miles) southeast of Bosaso, Somalia, eliminating three foes. AFRICOM’s communiqué remained mum on the exact identities of the targets or casualties, but highlighted zero civilian deaths.
Sources now confirm Mumin was the bullseye of the mission, though details about his fate are still fuzzy.
A high-ranking administration figure did verify an assault on a senior ISIS headliner in Somalia but withheld the individual’s identity pending confirmation.
A top defense official mentions that ISIS’s footprint in Somalia is modest, tallying between 100 to 200 fighters, primarily in the north. Yet, ISIS offshoots pepper different corners of Africa, like Libya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mozambique.
According to U.S. intelligence, ISIS retains a significant force in hotspots like northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.
But due to U.S. operations clamping down hard on ISIS leaders in Iraq and Syria, the group’s strategists see Africa as ripe for expansion. The region’s looser milieu offers better opportunities to operate, prompting them to move the caliphate over yonder, per a senior defense honcho. This relocation spurred budding cells across Africa, steered by ISIS brass.
In Somalia, ISIS fighters outmaneuver other terror factions by evading the likes of the FBI and Interpol. They also swap techniques and strategies more fluidly, especially around funding.
The U.S. fingers Mumin for a slew of deadly strikes in Somalia over the last ten years, including a 2019 hit on a judge in his own crib and the 2016 seizure and prolonged control of a Northeastern State city.
Back in 2016, the U.S. slapped an international terrorism label on Mumin, flagging him as a major threat to American and global security.
Few knew Mumin’s new role as ISIS’s global chief, say two U.S. insiders. He took over following Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi’s death in Syria in late 2022. His predecessors, including the infamous Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, met their ends by their own hand during U.S. raids.
