Shaykh Ahmad Umar Takes the Helm of Al-Shabaab

Shaykh Ahmad Umar Takes the Helm of Al-Shabaab

On September 1, a U.S. airstrike in Dahay Tubaako, a remote area in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region, killed Ahmad Abdi Godane (a.k.a. Mukhtar Abu Zubayr), the main leader and most prominent ideological figure within the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab. Godane’s death, along with that of another two prominent leaders, paved the way for little-known Shaykh Ahmad Umar (a.k.a. Abu Ubaidah) to take the helm of the radical group. Umar was named as the leader on September 6 in a statement in which al-Shabaab spokesman Ali Muhammad Rage reaffirmed the group’s affiliation with al-Qaeda (The Star [Nairobi], September 7; Sabahi Online, September 8). This announcement put the security agencies of various countries on alert for possible attacks ordered by the new al-Shabaab leader.

Two months on, Umar has remained silent about his intensions, and his ability to steer al-Shabaab, which Godane grew into a regional jihadist group, is a matter of much debate. Some analysts think Umar will most likely spend the next few months consolidating power, after which increased attacks on the Somali government and its allies cannot be ruled out (Garowe Online, October 2). Although some attacks have already occurred since Umar’s appointment, they seem to point in this direction. In the most recent attack, militants attempted a daring raid on President Hassan Shaykh Muhammad’s palace in Mogadishu on November 1, firing mortars into the highly protected area (Reuters, November 16).

Background

Details about the new al-Shabaab leader remain scarce, but Umar is described as a devout Muslim and a ruthless Islamic hardliner who served as one of Godane’s most trusted and closest advisers. Umar is believed to be poorly educated, but he took religious lessons while with the Ras Kamboni Brigade, and can speak and write in Arabic and Somali (Sabahi Online, October 31). Umar has a number of aliases, the known ones being Shaykh Ahmad Umar, Abu Ubaidah, Ahmad Diriye/Dirie Abdikarim. His jihadist credentials were raised when the United Nations placed Umar on its list of terrorists who face sanctions. The Somali government put a $2 million bounty on his head (Sabahi Online, September 30).

Umar was supposedly born in the Kalafe area in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia around 1970. According to some sources, he has lived in Somalia since the early 1990s (VOA, September 8). Others say he moved to Somalia around 1986 with his family, which had fled the Ethiopian–Somalia conflict. He is a tall man of dark complexion, according to a former leader of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) (Africa Review, September 7).

Like previous leaders in al-Shabaab, Umar allegedly joined al-Itihad al-Islamiya (AIAI), a Salafist group that fought in the Horn of Africa in the 1990s and wanted to establish an Islamic state in the region. It received some funding and later some foreign fighters from Osama bin Laden in the early stages of the Somali civil war (Wardbeer News, November 13, 2005). By 1994, it had established itself in the Somali region of Ethiopia. AIAI was headed by Shaykh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, a veteran of the Ogaden War. A member of the ICU, al-Turki also formed the Ras Kamboni Brigade in 2007, which operated in southern Somalia. The Islamist militant group is named after a small coastal town on the Kenyan border.

From 1997-2006, Shaykh Umar was a member of AIAI and the Ras Kamboni Brigade (Sabahi Online, October 31). He was recruited into the group when the Somali government was at its weakest and clan feuds were beginning. AIAI put Umar in charge of classes on the Quran in Somalia’s Lower Juba region, where he played a key role in shaping the teaching from conventional Quranic lessons into a jihad-based one, including minor training in jihad. [1] Ahmed Mohamud Muhammad, a Somali national, corroborated this. Muhammad said he knew Umar when he ran a Quranic school in the port city of Kismayo in 2000. He said Umar is a difficult, polarizing person who believes in Takfiri ideology (VOA, September 8).

Al-Shabaab

Before joining al-Shabaab in 2007, Umar had served as a junior officer in the ICU. He allegedly worked with Aden Hashi Ayrow, the former al-Shabaab leader, around 2006, when it became clear that the ICU was weak and its defeat was imminent. Ayrow was killed by a U.S. airstrike in 2008. Those Umar worked with in the ICU allegedly persuaded him to join al-Shabaab, where he has held various positions.

In March 2008, Umar and a few others were sent to Yemen for intensive training for nine months. Upon his return, he was appointed to head al-Shabaab’s department of financial management and internal operations. Once Umar was elevated to the top of al-Shabaab’s leadership, Godane sent him to Egypt for six months in mid-2008 to study administration under the Muslim Brotherhood. [2] At this time, Umar did not have much skill in combat, although he received some training in the Lower Juba region, where he was the deputy governor from 2008-2009. He later served as the governor of Bay and Bakool regions from 2010-2013 (Somali Currents, September 6).

In September 2009, Umar allegedly presided over the assault on the Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, his first high-level attack. Suicide bombers entered the airport using two stolen white UN cars. The attack targeted a meeting between AMISOM troops and the Transitional Federal Government. Burundi’s deputy head of AMISOM was killed and Uganda’s commander was wounded in the attack. In total, 17 AMISOM soldiers were killed (Sudan Tribune, September 30, 2009).

In July 2010, Umar and Abdukadir Muhammad Abdukadir (a.k.a. Ikrima al-Muhajir), the current head of al-Shabaab’s Amniyat intelligence wing, were sent to Sudan to master Salafi philosophy and financial management. [3]

In November 2013, Umar was promoted to the position of Godane’s adviser. Before being appointed al-Shabaab’s new leader, Umar served as the head of its interior department, where he controlled the group’s domestic affairs (People Daily [Nairobi], September 14). Umar is believed to have played a key role in assisting Godane purge potential rivals from al-Shabaab. He also may have been involved in the killing of American-born Omar Hammami, a.k.a. al-Amriki. He is also believed to have been instrumental in the creation and management of al-Shabaab’s Amniyat (Salama Fikira, September 24).

Conclusion

It is clear that circumstances within al-Shabaab groomed Umar to take over long before his appointment. With a $7 million bounty on his head, Godane knew he could be killed and thus established a small group of trusted loyalists and possible successors, which included Umar. According to one report, Umar, as Godane’s protégé, shared the same aspirations and may have received Godane’s blessings to be his successor (ISS Africa, October 8).

On November 8, al-Shabaab militants captured the island of Kudha near the Kenyan border from the Interim Jubbaland Administration, formerly the Ras Kamboni militia, after a battle in which at least 50 people were killed. The militants fled the island after kidnapping an undisclosed number of civilians. Sources believe Umar ordered the attack since he is familiar with the area (Garowe Online, November 10). However, he has yet to make a speech outlining successful attacks so far and how he plans to steer al-Shabaab in the future.

While some say Umar lacks the necessary education, leadership experience and capacity to lead the group, he is a devout, ruthless Islamic hardliner and a compelling leader. Apparently, al-Shabaab’s leadership does not require a college degree or academic prowess, but rather the ability to inspire jihadists to attack targets. There is no doubt that Shaykh Ahmad Umar fits this bill.

Sunguta West is an independent journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. He writes about politics, religion, security and the environment, among other issues.

Notes

1. Author interview with Mahamud Muhammed Ali, a Nairobi-based analyst of the Somali conflict. Ali, a Somaliland national, is familiar with both AIAI and Al-Shabaab, having monitored the conflict since 1990.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.