Somalia: Somalia Says Al-Shabab Amniyat Chief Killed in Nisa Operation

What the report says

Somalia’s intelligence service, the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), said it killed a former head of al-Shabab’s Amniyat security wing during a planned operation in Jilib, a town in southern Somalia. The agency said the operation was carried out with international partners and took place on Oct. 1, 2026, according to the report carried by Shabelle Media Network and distributed by AllAfrica.

NISA identified the man as Bashir Ahmed Haji Nunow and said he had led the militant group’s Amniyat unit from 2016 to 2024. The agency said he used several aliases and described him as a senior figure in attacks against Somali civilians. It specifically linked him to major incidents in Mogadishu, including the 2017 bombing at Soobe intersection, as well as the Ex-Control Afgooye attack, the so-called Soobe 2 attack, and assaults near the Lido Beach area.

The report said the killing is part of a broader government effort to target senior al-Shabab leaders and weaken the networks used to plan attacks. NISA said the operation could disrupt the group’s command structure, though it did not say how Nunow was killed or whether anyone else was injured or killed. Al-Shabab has fought the Somali state for years, and the government has increasingly emphasized strikes on leadership, intelligence and financing structures as part of the counterinsurgency campaign.