The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken action against ISIS’ branch in Somalia; Abnaa Ul Calipha also known as Islamic State Somalia (ISS). OFAC took action by issuing designations against the terror outfit for its role as well as that of some of its members and associates in trafficking and supplying weapons in the Horn of Africa.
Intelligence has previously indicated that a sizeable number of ISS members belonged to other outfits majorly Al Shabaab which makes further confirms the possibility of the group (which largely operates in northern Puntland State) working with other terror groups to provide weapons. Some of the members, associates, and businesses designated by OFAC include:
- Liibaan Yousuf Mohamed and Liibaan General Trading Co.
Intelligence has revealed that Mohamed is an ISS-associated businessman who carries out official duties for the group. Mohamed owns Liibaan General Trading Co. which has been at the center of numerous business dealing on behalf of ISIS-Somalia. He is also a key member of the illegal business network in Puntland since 2017. His numerous illegal businesses include but are not limited to arms smuggling and illegal fishing in the Gulf of Aden.
Like most senior members of ISS, he was al-Shabaab’s senior Amniyat (the intelligence arm of the Al-Shabaab) operative and kidnapping facilitator until later joined the newly formed ISS under Sheikh Mumin.
Mohamed is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS-Somalia.
Liibaan Yousuf Mohamed registered and is the manager of Liibaan General Trading Co. therefore, the company has been sanctioned for being owned, controlled, or being associated either directly or indirectly with a designated individual. Additionally, there are records that reveal that the company has on more than one occasion done business on behalf of ISS.
- Abdirahman Mohamed Omar aka Dhofaye
Abdirahman Mohamed Omar (Omar) is an ISS member and arms smuggler in the Dhofaye-Laboballe-Buruj Farah partnership — a triad of arms dealers smuggling weapons from Yemen to Somalia — and the Qandala-Hafun network. As of 2020, Dhofaye was considered the most active illicit arms importer in Puntland, Somalia, and was linked to over 50% of all illicit arms transactions that totaled over $2M.
Omar has been involved in weapons facilitation to ISS and al-Shabaab since at least early 2017 and has worked closely with AQAP facilitator Sayf Abdulrab Salem al-Hayashi (al-Hayashi) who has been sanctioned since 2017.
According to OFAC, Dhofaye has on numerous occasions either personally bought on behalf of ISS or smuggled weapons sent from ISIS in Yemen and facilitated the movement through the Gulf of Aden and into the hands of militants in the Qandala mountains.
Some of the weapons that Dhofaye provides include G3 rifles from Iran, DShK machine guns and rifles, improvised explosive device (IED) initiators, AK-47 assault rifles, PK machine guns (PKMs), and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) ammunition rounds. These weapons are some of the same seen in propaganda videos by ISS as well as in attacks orchestrated by the group both in Puntland and Central Somalia.
Omar is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS-Somalia.
- Mahad Isse Aden aka Laboballe
Mahad Isse Aden (Laboballe) is an arms smuggler in the Dhofaye-Laboballe-Buruj Farah partnership and the Puntland-based arms smuggling and illegal fishing agent Qandala-Hafun network, alongside Dhofaye. Aden has sold weapons to both ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabaab.
Laboballe has worked in the frankincense trade since his youth and owns a frankincense-export business in Bosaso under the name ‘Guure Store’, which reportedly serves as a front for his commercial arms-trafficking operation. Intelligence shows that Aden has been a partner of Dhofaye in the arms trade and has similarly transferred nearly $800,000 to arms suppliers in Yemen between 2015 and 2020.
As of early 2016, Aden had worked with Iranian weapons smugglers and received his weapons from both Yemen and Iran. As of 2017, Aden had facilitated weapons into Somalia from Yemen for ISIS-Somalia. Laboballe serves as a key node linking Yemen- and Somalia-based arms trafficking networks, and has additionally shipped AK-47s, PKMs, DShK machine guns, ZU-23 light antiaircraft guns, and small caliber ammunition to Somalia.
Aden is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS-Somalia.
- Isse Mohamoud Yusuf
Isse Mohamoud Yusuf is an ISIS-Somalia weapons and logistics facilitator in Bari, Puntland, Somalia, and is an arms smuggler as part of the Qandala-Hafun network. He is a relative of ISIS-Somalia leader Mumin. Yusuf is a former leader of the Puntland Piracy Network who officially renounced piracy in 2015. Yusuf’s pirate syndicate was responsible for two successful, high-profile hijackings of commercial vessels in 2012
Yusuf runs a network of smuggling vessels, including several that he owns and uses to transport weapons, including AK-47s, PKMs, RPG-7s, and IED components, from Yemen for ISIS-Somalia. Yusuf frequently smuggles equipment and cargo into Puntland to support ISIS-Somalia and al-Shabaab operations.
In early 2022, Yusuf facilitated the travel of ISIS militants on his dhow from the Middle East to Somalia to attend meetings on the restructuring of ISIS-Somalia’s leadership, tactics, and strategies.
Yusuf is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS-Somalia.
- Abdirahman FAHIYE ISSE MOHAMUD
As of early 2021, Abdirahman Fahiye Isse Mohamud (Fahiye) is an ISS emir and reported to Mumin. Fahiye organized ISS’ monthly operational report, which included information on ISIS-Somalia’s attack campaign against businesses refusing to provide ISIS-Somalia with extortion payments; recruitment numbers and a financial summary; and issues facing ISIS-Somalia externally and internally, including individuals accused of espionage.
Fahiye is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS-Somalia.
- Mohamed Ahmed Qahiye
Mohamed Ahmed Qahiye (Qahiye) was the head of the Amniyat, al-Shabaab’s intelligence wing before jumping ship to join ISS. Separately, ISIS-Somalia senior leaders Qahiye and Mumin requested an arms shipment from Yemen that included more than 20 boxes of AK-47 ammunition, a dozen boxes of pistol ammunition, several boxes of RPG launchers, and a couple of PKMs.
Qahiye is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS-Somalia.
- Ahmed Haji Ali Haji Omar
Ahmed Haji Ali Haji Omar (Haji Omar) has been an ISIS-Somalia commander in charge of weapons smuggling in Bari, Puntland, Somalia for the past three years. Haji Omar is an arms supplier who is a significant figure and part of ISIS-Somalia’s leadership structure.
Haji Omar is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS-Somalia.
- Osama Abdelmongy Abdalla Bakr
In 2016, senior ISIS leaders made various attempts to find sources of weapons and support. ISIS leaders directed Osama Abdelmongy Abdalla Bakr (Bakr) to contact the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Bakr took direct instructions from an ISIS leader and was paid nearly $30,000 by ISIS leaders in support of his efforts. Bakr sought multiple meetings with DPRK embassy employees in Brazil to purchase lightweight weaponry and anti-drone technology for the benefit of ISIS. ISIS did not receive lightweight weapons, anti-drone technology, or anything else from the DPRK.
Bakr is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, ISIS.
The sanctions are a very vital step in disrupting the financing of ISIS and Al-Shabaab as well as curtailing the source of weapons that continue to support violence against both civilians and security apparatus in Somalia.
Somalia, which has been war-stricken for decades is also a hub for a well-rooted weapons smuggling and trafficking network that has furnished several terror organizations and rebels in the region with weapons. Therefore, the recent designations are the first step in dismantling the network, its associates as well as businesses that have been used to enable the transfer, sales, and distribution of weapons that are responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians and security agents. The herein-mentioned networks operate primarily between Yemen and Somalia and have strong ties to al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and al-Shabaab and exploit the Gulf of Aden as a route to bring in the weapons.
