Somalia says Al-Shabab Amniyat chief killed in NISA operation

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s intelligence agency said a former head of al-Shabab’s Amniyat security wing was killed in a planned operation carried out with international partners in the southern town of Jilib.

The National Intelligence and Security Agency, or NISA, identified the man as Bashir Ahmed Haji Nunow and said he was killed during the operation on Oct. 1, 2026.

NISA said Nunow led the militant group’s Amniyat unit between 2016 and 2024. The agency said he operated under several aliases, including Geescadde, Fanax, Gardhuub and Ali Dheere.

The agency accused Nunow of playing a senior role in planning and carrying out attacks against Somali civilians. It specifically linked him to several major attacks in Mogadishu, including the Oct. 14, 2017, bombing at the Soobe intersection.

NISA also attributed the Ex-Control Afgooye attack and the attack known as Soobe 2 to Nunow, along with assaults targeting hotels and other locations around Mogadishu’s Lido Beach.

The agency said the operation formed part of a wider campaign to pursue senior al-Shabab figures accused of directing attacks and maintaining the networks used to organise militant operations.

NISA said the killing could disrupt al-Shabab’s leadership and the networks responsible for planning and executing attacks. It did not provide details on how Nunow was killed or whether other people were killed or wounded in the operation.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked militant group, has waged an insurgency in Somalia for more than a decade and continues to carry out attacks despite military operations by Somali forces and their international partners.

The Somali government has increasingly focused on targeting the group’s senior leadership and disrupting its command, intelligence and financial networks as part of efforts to weaken the insurgency.