Somalia – Somali authorities announced on Monday the killing of prominent al-Shabaab leader Mahmoud Abdi Hamud, known as Jafar Ghori, in a precision airstrike carried out on October 26 in the city of Buale in the Middle Juba region, one of the group’s most prominent strongholds in the south of the country.
The Somali Ministry of Information stated in an official statement that the raid was part of joint military operations targeting the movement’s leaders, who are linked to al-Qaeda. The statement confirmed that Jaafar Ghori was one of the early founders of al-Shabaab and held key security positions within the movement, including external security officer, head of the leadership’s security apparatus, and head of the intelligence tracking unit.
Authorities indicated that the elimination of Gori represents a “significant blow” to the organization, which has lost several of its most prominent field commanders in similar operations in recent months, as part of an escalating campaign supported by US forces as part of a counterterrorism mission in East Africa.
Buale is a key stronghold of al-Shabaab in the Middle Juba region and frequently witnesses airstrikes targeting the group’s leaders. The group has been waging bloody attacks on government forces and civilians for more than 15 years in an attempt to overthrow the central government and establish what it calls “sharia rule.”
This raid comes as the Somali government, with support from international partners, is intensifying its security operations to liberate areas under the movement’s control, as part of a national plan aimed at restoring security and stability after years of chaos and violence caused by the armed insurgency.
