Somali government commended US government’s move impose sanctions on several al-Shabaab funders amid ongoing war against al-Shabaab fighters in south-central Somalia.
In a statement, Somali Information Ministry said that the significant action taken by the Washington government resulted from joint investigations conducted by Somalia and the United States.
US government on Monday imposed sanction high-ranking al-Shabaab members who as interlocutors between the group and local companies in Somalia.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed the sanctions on more than a dozen individuals from Somalia and Yemen who are involved in al-Shabab’s financing operations which in turn use those funds to assist in weapons procurement and recruitment activities.
According to a Treasury statement, individuals who were sanctioned include Khalif Adale, Abdullahi Jeeri and Abdikarim Hussein Gagaal while others were designated for working as al-Shabaab weapons traffickers. Among them are Abdirahman Nurey, Abdisamad
Jeeri, al-Shabab’s chief of weapons procurement, according to Treasury. Jeeri has been active as recent as late last year, often getting weapons from local sellers and international suppliers based out of Yemen.
U.S. officials also said Jeeri is responsible for collecting payments levied against various Somali businesses.
The U.S. says Jeeri is a member of al-Shabab’s Shura (Consultative) Council, the group’s second highest administrative body after the Tanfid (Executive) Council.
Adale has served as al-Shabaab’s finance leader for collecting money from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and has reported directly to al-Shabaab’s emir Ahmed Diriye, who was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to E.O.13224 in 2015.
He was part of al-Shabaab leader Mahad Karate’s team within the al-Shabaab organizational structure and maintained communication with Karate. The U.S. Department of State designated Karate as an SDGT on April10, 2015.
Adale had served as an al-Shabaab finance officer whose role included brokering business deals between al-Shabaab and legitimate businesses, handling higher-level payments imposed on businesses, acting as a clan liaison to settle disputes between clans, and recruiting for al-Shabaab.
