Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has hinted that Al-Shabaab funds terrorists in Nigeria where Boko Haram and ISWAP are rooted.
Mohamud made the revelation at Ankara in Türkiye during his visit to thousands of soldiers and police officers training in the country.
We have evidence that the money collected by Al-Shabaab is used in financing terror groups in Mozambique and Nigeria with some going to Al-Qaeda.
Al-Shabaab is the East Africa franchise of Al-Qaeda which is deep-seated in the Middle East and North Africa.
We’ll shut down these revenue streams”, vowed Mohamud who assumed office in May 2022.
The 66-year-old President is the founder and chairman of the Union for Peace and Development Party.
For more than a decade, Nigeria has been battling Ansaru, Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Insurgents have killed thousands of citizens and displaced millions, especially in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
On Tuesday, ISWAP attacked a prison in the Kuje area of Abuja, the capital, releasing hundreds of inmates, including terrorists.
The Nigerian government also said its fights are behind the killings of Christians and attacks on churches.
In Mozambique, a terror group, Al-Shabab controls parts of Cabo Delgado in the Northern region. It is unclear if it has ties with Al-Shabaab.
Al-Shabaab is regarded as the most dreaded Islamic insurgency organization within the Horn of Africa.
Also known as Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, the sect controls some rural areas in Somalia’s south and had vowed to oust the government.
The United States African Command found that Al-Shabaab is the most funded Al-Qaeda partner in the continent.
In a report, Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute of Policy Studies said the franchise operates with an annual budget of $100million.
