Washington tighten noose around ISIS in Somalia

Noura Bendari

The US tries by all means to tighten the noose around ISIS, especially at the Arab and African levels.

It focuses on the elements of the terrorist organization, particularly its most prominent leaders.

The US Treasury Department announces from time to time the imposition of sanctions on the most prominent leaders and influential elements in the structure of the organization in Arab and African countries.

ISIS minister of finance

This comes within the context of an announcement by State Department Spokesman, Matthew Miller, on July 27.

Miller announced Washington’s inclusion of Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf, the head of financial affairs in ISIS Somalia on the terrorism list.

It said the ISIS leader, also known as the minister of Finance of ISIS, assumed the post of head of financial affairs of the terrorist organization in late 2019, and was responsible for managing the revenues received by the organization in Somalia.

He noted that Yusuf even played a role in facilitating the transfer of ISIS elements and the delivery of foreign fighters, supplies and ammunition on behalf of the terrorist organization in Somali territory.

The minister of Finance of ISIS is one of the most prominent members of the terrorist organization.

He is the main supervisor of the organization’s financial affairs and also serves as the main centre for disbursing funds to the branches of ISIS throughout the African continent.

He also holds continuous meetings with and provides reports on the organization’s situation to the main leaders of ISIS in Somalia.

Financial leverage

It is worth noting that during the first half of 2022, ISIS in Somalia achieved financial revenues of about $2 million. In 2021, the organization achieved revenues of about $2.5 million, according to the US Treasury Department.

As usual, the terrorist organization obtains these funds from extorting companies and businessmen, as well as citizens, especially those working in the agricultural and livestock fields, forcing them either to pay what the organization calls ‘taxes’, ‘levies’ or ‘royalties’.

In the light of the above, the main question remains, will these Washington mechanisms succeed in defeating the influence of ISIS?

To answer this question, one can refer to a key rule put forward by some experts and political analysts, which indicates that the organization will not die with the death of its leader or by targeting its leadership by any means.

However, it may weaken or reduce its activities until a restructuring process is carried out.

This forces countries facing terrorism to focus on fighting the ideas of terrorist organizations and working to defeat them, with all means and tools at their disposal.

At the same time, international governments also need to provide support to countries suffering from the threat of terrorism that threatens their security and stability.

Deep impact

On the extent to which America’s inclusion of the ISIS finance minister in Somalia on the sanctions list affects the organization’s activities, Hesham al-Naggar, a researcher on the affairs of Islamist groups, says this will certainly affect ISIS, given that Somalia is an extremely important station in the context of financing the organization and supplying it with weapons and money.

“Any special measure to restrict and undermine ISIS financial activity inside Somalia significantly affects the movement of money and weapons to ISIS branches across the world,” al-Naggar told The Reference.