Somali Government Says al-Shabab Faces Financial Crisis After Targeted Crackdown

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s federal government says al-Shabab is facing mounting financial strain after a string of operations that killed senior operatives overseeing the group’s revenue networks and a sustained push to dismantle its funding channels.

State news agency SONNA reported Saturday, citing intelligence sources, that the al-Qaida-linked group is struggling to reconstitute income streams amid a coordinated financial offensive aimed at its economic backbone. Independent verification of the internal figures was not immediately available.

The report attributed the squeeze in part to the recent killings of Mohamed Mire Jama, described as the group’s “interior minister” who oversaw key administrative and financial structures, and Abdullahi Wadaad, identified as al-Shabab’s head of finance. Officials said their deaths have disrupted internal fiscal management and weakened coordination across revenue-collection cells.

Intelligence assessments cited by SONNA estimate al-Shabab’s total revenue for 2025 at less than $80 million, the lowest level in seven years. The decline, officials say, reflects growing constraints on the group’s coercive taxation and extortion systems in urban commercial centers.

Al-Shabab has long relied on levies on businesses, real estate transactions, transport routes and market traders. But the government says repeated attempts by the group to restore those income streams have largely failed due to expanded surveillance and enforcement, including the deployment of undercover personnel and installation of CCTV systems in major markets to disrupt collection networks and raise the operational risk for extortion operatives.

Authorities also point to tighter anti-money laundering controls and financial oversight mechanisms that they say have restricted access to banking channels and commercial gateways. Officials reported enforcement measures have severed illicit revenue flows historically linked to Mogadishu’s international airport and seaport.

In March 2024, the government announced it seized $7 million, closed 670 telephone lines and shut down 110 merchant accounts allegedly connected to terrorist financing. A year earlier, authorities said they froze about 250 bank accounts and disabled roughly 70 mobile money accounts used for militant transactions. While the extent of the impact on al-Shabab’s finances is difficult to quantify independently, the government argues the cumulative effect is constricting the group’s cash flows.

Amid the pressure, al-Shabab has reportedly reduced monthly salaries for its fighters to below $80, according to the latest intelligence summaries cited by SONNA. Officials contend the cut underscores liquidity constraints that could degrade recruitment and battlefield capacity over time.

Somali security agencies have increasingly combined financial measures with targeted strikes, attempting to fracture command nodes that manage taxes and disbursements. Analysts have long noted that the durability of al-Shabab’s insurgency rests not only on its military operations but on the sophistication of its revenue system, which has historically tapped both formal and informal sectors.

The government maintains that the current financial campaign is designed to complement ongoing military operations and erode the group’s long-term viability. Al-Shabab, which has fought Somalia’s federal government for more than 15 years, did not immediately comment on the latest claims.

Key figures reported by Somali authorities:

• Estimated 2025 al-Shabab revenue: less than $80 million, lowest in seven years (per SONNA citing intelligence).
• Two senior financial operatives killed: Mohamed Mire Jama and Abdullahi Wadaad.
• 2024 enforcement: $7 million seized; 670 phone lines and 110 merchant accounts closed.
• 2023 enforcement: about 250 bank accounts frozen; roughly 70 mobile money accounts disabled.
• Reported fighter salaries cut to below $80 per month.

The government says the focus now is maintaining pressure on the financing networks that underpin the insurgency’s reach, while acknowledging that the clandestine nature of al-Shabab’s economy complicates efforts to fully verify internal figures and measure the durability of the downturn.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.