Somalia: U.S. Renews $5 Million Reward for Information On Khadra Essa

What the report says

The U.S. State Department has renewed its offer of up to $5 million for information on Khadra Essa, also known as Umm Qaqa al-Somali, according to a report by Shabelle Media Network distributed by AllAfrica. The U.S. government identifies her as the chief sharia instructor for an all-female Islamic State (ISIS) battalion and says she is a Somalia-born Dutch citizen who went to Syria in 2014 to join the group.

The Rewards for Justice program says Essa received ISIS training in weapons, explosives and suicide operations, and later became a leader in Nusaybah Katibah, also called ISIS-NK. The U.S. account describes the battalion as an all-female force formed in Raqqah, Syria, in 2016 to recruit, organize and train women for combat and military roles. Washington also alleges that Essa promoted extremist ideology, encouraged attacks in several countries and helped enforce ISIS rules against women.

The program further links Essa to the case of two American children, Yusuf and Zahra Shikder, who were taken to Syria by their mother in 2015. The report says that after their mother died in a 2019 strike, Essa allegedly took custody of the children and moved them to an undisclosed location in Syria. Rewards for Justice separately offers up to $5 million for information leading to their location and return.

More broadly, the renewed reward is part of a U.S. effort to gather information on people connected to terrorism and militant networks. The listing cited in the report places Essa as a target in the Near East region and says ISIS-NK remains active despite the group’s losses in Syria.