Tuesday April 15, 2025
Mogadishu (HOL) — The United States and six Gulf states have imposed coordinated sanctions on 15 senior Al-Shabaab members and financial facilitators, targeting the militant group's funding networks across southern Somalia in a multilateral effort to disrupt its ability to carry out attacks and destabilize the region.
The designations, announced Monday by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in partnership with the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) in Riyadh, mark the eighth joint action by the body, which includes the United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain. The sanctions freeze any assets held by individuals within TFTC jurisdictions and block their access to the international financial system.
The listed individuals—many of them commanders and alleged enforcers of a shadow economy based in Lower Shabelle, Lower Juba, and Middle Juba—are accused of financing Al-Shabaab operations through illegal taxation, kidnappings, forced livestock seizures, and facilitating the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in attacks targeting Somali and African Union forces.
"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," said Anna Morris, the U.S. Treasury Department's Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing. "Today, the TFTC is acting to deny al-Shabaab access to regional and international financial networks to secure funding, coordinate attacks, and enable its violent activities."
Among those sanctioned is Hasaan Abshir Xuuroow, identified by officials as a senior Al-Shabaab intelligence and finance officer who has led extortion efforts in Kismayo, demanding livestock donations from civilians and reselling the animals for personal profit.
Another, Aadan Yusuf Saciid Ibrahim, extracted heavy fees from market vendors in Lower Shabelle, a region where farmers report paying dues twice: once to the official state and again to Al-Shabaab.
Also designated is Mumin Dheere, who served as the deputy emir of Wayanta in Lower Juba and reportedly coordinated retaliatory attacks using vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) and mortars. He is said to have plotted an assault on Kismayo International Airport and worked closely with other senior commanders, including Macalin Burhan, the Hisbah police chief of the region, who has overseen the imprisonment of dozens of civilians.
Other individuals named include Ali Ahmed Hussein, an emir in Lower Shabelle alleged to have coordinated weapons purchases and kidnappings; Mohamed Abdullah Hirey, the group's governor of the Juba region; and Ahmed Kabadhe, the former emir of Jubaland, who reportedly ordered repeated attacks on Somali security forces.
The designations also identify several additional commanders and facilitators, including Maxamed Cali, Siyaat Ayuto, Siciid Abdullahi Aadan, and Cumar Guhaad—each tied to Al-Shabaab’s regional taxation schemes, detention networks, and bomb-making logistics.
The designations build upon prior U.S. actions from May 2023, when many of these individuals were initially identified as financial backers and operational planners for Al-Shabaab. Monday's announcement signals broader cooperation between the U.S. and Gulf nations to undermine the group's financial networks, which remain a critical lifeline for its ongoing insurgency.
The Treasury Department indicated that further actions may be taken to apply additional pressure on the group's network.
Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida-linked group that emerged in the mid-2000s, has been responsible for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in East Africa. Despite major military operations by Somali forces and their international partners, the group continues to control swathes of territory, operate shadow administrations, and carry out bombings, ambushes, and targeted assassinations.
The TFTC, established in 2017 to improve cooperation on terror financing between the United States and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, coordinates joint actions such as sanctions, shares intelligence, and offers training to strengthen national-level enforcement.
The Somali government has not yet publicly commented on the latest sanctions but has previously welcomed international efforts to degrade Al-Shabaab's war chest.
Sanctioned Al-Shabaab Operatives and Allegations