On January 1, Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) announced that it and “partner forces” killed senior Shabaab leader Abdullahi Osman, who is better known as Engineer Ismail. NISA added that Osman’s deputy, Abdikarim Hersi, also known as Qoorleex, was also eliminated.
According to NISA, the pair were killed in a targeted operation near Jilib, a Shabaab stronghold in Somalia’s southern Middle Juba region, on December 10, 2025. The method in which the pair was killed is unclear, but it was likely an airstrike from reported “partner forces.” It is not known who the “partner forces” are, but the term often refers to drone strikes conducted by either the United States or Turkey. Neither country reported a drone strike in that location on that day, however.
Abdullahi Osman was a powerful force within Shabaab’s top leadership. In its designation of Osman as a global terrorist in 2020, the United States described him as Shabaab’s “senior explosives expert responsible for the overall management of al-Shabaab’s explosives operations and manufacturing.” In this role, he is accused of masterminding many attacks inside Mogadishu.
In addition, the US previously stated that Osman was “also a special adviser to the so-called ‘emir’ of al-Shabaab and is the leader of al-Shabaab’s media wing, al-Kataib.” NISA, in its statement, also alleged that Osman was a senior leader, if not the top leader, within Shabaab’s Amniyat, which effectively acts as the group’s intelligence wing
Since 2020, the United States has also maintained a $5 million bounty on Osman through its Rewards for Justice program.
Abdikarim Hersi, or Qoorleex, was Osman’s deputy, helping the terrorist leader in both propaganda and operational planning.
Shabaab has not commented on the reported death of either Shabaab figure as of the time of publishing. However, the group sometimes does not confirm the deaths of its leaders. For instance, Somalia also reportedly killed Mahmoud Abdi Hamud, better known as Jaafar Gurey, who was a co-founder of Shabaab, in October 2025. Shabaab has never publicly confirmed Gurey’s death.
The last senior leader whom the group confirmed was killed was Mohamad Mire, who was essentially Shabaab’s interior minister for its shadow governance project and had a long history in the Somali jihad dating back to the early 1990s. Mire was killed in a US airstrike in the Middle Juba region in late 2024. Shabaab, surprisingly, confirmed his death a few weeks later.
Another senior leader of Shabaab, Abdullahi Yare, was killed in late 2022. Yare, also known as Abdullahi Nadir, was killed in the Middle Juba region by a US airstrike. At the time of his reported death, he was acting as the emir of Shabaab’s dawah [proselytizing] wing. Shabaab has never confirmed the death of Yare, though no new information on the co-founder’s activities or whereabouts has emerged since he was reported killed.
Over the last few years, Somalia has eliminated several mid-to-low-level Shabaab commanders across much of central and southern Somalia. However, most of the jihadist group’s senior leadership remains intact. Other reported deaths of significant commanders have turned out to be incorrect.
For instance, in December 2023, Somalia claimed that it killed Maalim Ayman, the leader of the eponymously named Jaysh Ayman, a Shabaab wing responsible for attacks in northeastern Kenya and southern Somalia. However, a United Nations Sanctions and Monitoring Team report from July 2024 reported that Ayman was still alive and operational.
If Abdullahi Osman is confirmed dead, it would be yet another blow to the group’s senior leadership and its remaining historical cadres. Given Osman’s curriculum vitae, it would also certainly be a significant setback to the group’s operations, at least for the time being. Nevertheless, Shabaab has historically proven to maintain a deep bench of experienced personnel who can replace killed operatives in quick succession.
