Abdelkader Mohamed: Mastermind of al-Shabaab’s operations in Somalia

Ahmed Adel

The United States has added five new terror leaders to its list of global terrorism on August 7.

The move will entail the seizure of the assets of these people in the US.

The US State Department said any foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant financial transaction or provides significant financial services to these five designated terrorists could be subjected to sanctions.

It explained in a statement that Washington’s commitment to disrupting the financing methods of the Islamic State group in Mozambique, al-Nusra Front and al-Shabaab Movement in Somalia.

The State Department said this move would limit these organizations’ abilities to launch attacks against civilians.

The department also renewed Washington’s support for its partners as they work to suspend terrorism financing, undermine the capacity and operations of these terrorist groups, and combat their control and influence in West, East and Southern Africa.

The five newcomers to the list of global terrorism are Ben Madi Omar, a senior military commander of the Islamic State group in Mozambique, Sedang Hita and Salem Ould Al-Hassan, two senior leaders of Nusrat al-Islam group which is linked to al-Qaeda in Mali, and Ali Mohamed Raji and Abdelkader Mohamed Abdelkader, leaders of al-Shabaab group in Somalia.

Abdelkader Muhammad Abdelkader

Also known as Ikrema, Abdelkader is a Kenyan of Somali origin who was born in 1979. He is the al-Shabaab facilitator and operations planner.

He has been part of al-Shabaab movement since November 2019 when he became a prominent leader of the group.

Abdelkader has also served as the head of operations and logistics in the movement. He mainly managed the planning of al-Shabaab operations.

He was involved in the 1998 attack on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that left 200 people dead. He was related to principal al-Qaeda commanders at the time.

Abdelkader hails from a clan in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. He was linked to al-Shabaab’s intelligence service, a special unit blamed for major attacks in Mogadishu.