Somali security forces have arrested senior al-Shabaab operative following security operation in villages near Luq district in Gedo region.
According to a statement, the security forces said the operative who was identified as Mohamed Ali Osman was al-Shabaab official working at the group’s finance department.
The security forces also seized motorcycle.
Somali government has intensified operations to hunt down al-Shabaab senior officials.
The arrest Osman comes barely two days after Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) apprehended a senior al-Shabaab operative responsible for procuring weaponry and explosives from foreign sources to Al-Shabaab.
The spy agency said Sakaria Kamal, better known as Saki, is responsible for procuring weaponry “solely to arm the Kharijite adversary and inflict harm upon the innocent Somali people.”
Al-Shabaab is responsible for numerous terrorist attacks that have caused loss of life in Kenya, Somalia, and neighbouring countries, including the deaths of US citizens. The group continues to plan and plot to commit terrorist acts against the United States, US interests, and foreign partners.
The US Department of State designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist in March 2008. The UN Security Council’s Somalia Sanctions Committee added al-Shabaab to the 1844 Sanctions List in April 2010 pursuant to paragraph 8 of resolution 1844 (2008).
Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with al-Shabaab being one of the main threats in the Horn of Africa country.
Since at least 2007, al-Shabaab has waged a deadly campaign against the Somali government and international forces that has claimed thousands of lives.
