RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Today, the seven members of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) announced joint designations of 15 al-Shabaab leaders, operatives, and financial facilitators operating in Somalia. These targets were involved in a wide range of activities in support of al-Shabaab, including fundraising and proliferation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). This is the eighth round of joint designations by the TFTC.
The TFTC was established in May 2017 to enhance multilateral cooperation against terrorist financing between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The TFTC coordinates joint disruptive actions, including targeted sanctions; exchanges actionable information on terrorist financing networks; and provides capacity-building workshops to strengthen institutional defenses against terrorist financing. Additional information about the TFTC is available on its website.
“Al-Shabaab continues to terrorize and extort the Somali people, forcing farmers to turn over livestock as ‘donations’ and kidnapping civilians, while it destabilizes the wider region through its campaign of violence. Today, the TFTC is acting to deny al-Shabab access to regional and international financial networks to secure funding, coordinate attacks, and enable its violent activities,” said Treasury’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, Anna Morris. “TFTC member states are stronger and more effective when working together to counter these shared threats to the international financial system, and we will maintain intensive pressure on terrorist actors and their financial networks.”
In May 2024, the United States designated the following targets for their involvement in a wide range of activities in support of al-Shabaab, including financial facilitation, business activities, collection of funds on behalf of the terrorist group, and the proliferation of IEDs. Today, the United States’ partners in the GCC are taking coordinated action to further disrupt these targets’ access to the international financial system.
Background on Al-Shabaab Fundraising and Operational Networks in Somalia
The following 15 individuals have served as key regional leaders and members of the terrorist group in the Lower Shabelle, Lower Juba, and Middle Juba regions of Somalia. They have been involved in extensive revenue generation and other activities in support of al-Shabaab through illegal fee collection from local Somalis; coercing local residents to follow al-Shabaab’s directions through its illegitimate “police force,” known as the Hisbah; kidnappings; and facilitating the manufacture and placement of IEDs.
Hasaan Abshir Xuuroow (Xuuroow) is an al-Shabaab intelligence and finance officer who has led a group of other al-Shabaab associates to collect mandatory “donations” from civilians in Kismayo, Somalia. Xuuroow has taken livestock from owners as donations for al-Shabaab, later auctioning them off to make a profit for personal financial gain.
Aadan Yusuf Saciid Ibrahim (Ibrahim) is an al-Shabaab mandatory donations collector in Lower Shabelle, Somalia. Specifically, Ibrahim has been responsible for enforcing the collection of fees associated with livestock and market sales. Ibrahim has levied heavy charges on behalf of al-Shabaab but retains at least some of those profits for his personal enrichment.
As of early 2022, Mumin Dheere (Dheere) was deputy emir of Wayanta, Lower Juba, Somalia and has coordinated retaliatory attacks for al-Shabaab by targeting Somali and African Union Mission in Somalia security forces, and has planned to use vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) and mortars in the attacks. Separately, Dheere has also planned to attack Kismayo International Airport.
In late 2021, Macalin Burhan (Burhan) was appointed as the al-Shabaab Hisbah commander of the Wayanta area in Lower Juba, Somalia. As recently as mid-2022, al-Shabaab had imprisoned more than 80 civilians in the Wayanta area. Burhan, in his position as the al-Shabaab regional Hisbah commander, has refused to release the civilians.
Ali Ahmed Hussein (Hussein) is an al-Shabaab emir in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia. Hussein has demanded payment from local clans, assisted in the movement of al-Shabaab fighters who kidnapped citizens in Lower Shabelle, and purchased and stored weapons for al-Shabaab militants in the region.
Maxamed Cali (Cali) is al-Shabaab company commander in charge of 100 fighters. Cali reports to Dheere and has regularly associated with Roobow, Burhan, and Xuuroow.
Ahmed Kabadhe (Kabadhe) was the al-Shabaab emir in Jubaland, Somalia, and has ordered al-Shabaab fighters under his command to attack and continually harass local security forces. In late 2022, he plotted an attack using VBIEDs and suicide bombers with al-Shabaab members Kabadhe, Dheere, Cali, and Burhan.
Siyaat Ayuto (Ayuto) was appointed as the al-Shabaab Hisbah commander for the Wiliyat area, Lower Juba, Somalia. Previously, Ayuto served as the Hisbah commander of Beer Xaani, Somalia. Ayuto has also served as the al-Shabaab emir for Kismayo operations.
Hassan Yariisow Aadan (Aadan) is an al-Shabaab commander who has collected fees from locals in the Lower Shabelle area to support al-Shabaab.
Siciid Abdullahi Aadan (Aadan) is an al-Shabaab member who has operated as an IED expert and facilitator. Separately, Aadan has also extracted fees from the local population on behalf of al-Shabaab.
Mohamed Abdullah Hirey (Hirey) is al-Shabaab Governor of the Juba Region and has participated in pro-al-Shabaab propaganda.
Cabdi Roobow (Roobow) was a mid-level al-Shabaab commander in charge of the Wayanta area in Lower Juba, Somalia and has planned attacks against Abdi Biroole, Lower Juba, Somalia with Dheere and another al-Shabaab official.
Shiek Aadan Abuukar Malayle (Malayle) is an al-Shabaab leader who oversees the collection of fees from the local population in Lower Shabelle, Somalia. The money collected by al-Shabaab is then used to purchase weapons, ammunition, and supplies for the group.
Aadan Jiss (Jiss) serves as a Hisbah commander for al-Shabaab. Jiss has also managed a detention center and handled detainments for al-Shabaab’s so-called “courts.”
Cumar Guhaad is an al-Shabaab commander in the Lower Shabelle, Somalia, who has used his leadership position in al-Shabaab to order clans in the region to pay large sums of money to support the terrorist group.