Somalia says it has killed the former head of al-Shabab's intelligence wing
The national intelligence agency says Bashir Ahmed Haji Nunow, who ran the group's feared Amniyat unit for eight years, died in an operation in Jilib on 1 October.
Mogadishu — Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency says it has killed Bashir Ahmed Haji Nunow, a former head of al-Shabab's Amniyat, the armed group's security and intelligence wing.
The agency, known as NISA, said Nunow was killed on 1 October in an operation in Jilib, a town in southern Somalia long regarded as an al-Shabab stronghold. It said international partners took part, without naming them, according to the Shabelle Media Network.
Linked to Mogadishu's worst attacks
NISA said Nunow led the Amniyat from 2016 to 2024 and used several aliases. It said he had a senior role in planning and carrying out attacks in the capital, including the truck bombing at the Soobe intersection on 14 October 2017, the deadliest in the country's history, and assaults on hotels and on Lido Beach.
The agency said his death could disrupt the group's leadership networks. Al-Shabab had not commented in the report, and the claim has not been independently confirmed.
Al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaeda, has fought Somalia's government for more than a decade. The authorities have increasingly aimed at senior commanders and at the group's finances.
This report is based on reporting by Shabelle Media Network, via AllAfrica.
