Another key Shabaab leader is dead, according to Somali authorities. Earlier this week, Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said that senior Shabaab official Bashir Ahmed Haji Nunow was killed in a military operation in the country’s south. This marks the fourth time this year that Somalia has claimed to have killed members of the Al Qaeda branch’s top leadership.
In a brief statement published on October 6, NISA said that Nunow, also known as Yusuf Ahmed Haji Nurow and Geescadde, was killed in a military operation in Jilib, a stronghold of Shabaab in Somalia’s Middle Juba region, on October 1. NISA said it conducted the operation alongside international partners, which often refers to airstrikes by the United States or Turkey, but it did not provide additional details.
The United States has not confirmed an airstrike at that location and time as of publication. Turkey does not publicly comment on its own airstrikes conducted in Somalia.
Shabaab has also not publicly commented on the claim of Nunow’s death. It often does not confirm the deaths of its leadership, only periodically commenting on the deaths of select leaders.
Nunow has served as the longtime commander of Shabaab’s Amniyat intelligence wing, often responsible for assassinations, bombings, and internal order within its ranks. In 2022, he was sanctioned by the United States for his role as Amniyat’s leader. Though Nunow was replaced in this role in 2024 by Abdullahi Osman, or Engineer Ismail, Nunow continued to have a senior management role within Shabaab’s top leadership under its leader, Ahmad Diriye.
According to NISA, Nunow had a senior planning role in the October 2017 suicide bombing in Mogadishu, which marked the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history (and one of the deadliest in the world), with more than 500 people killed in the blast. The Shabaab leader was also responsible for several other deadly bombings in the country, as stated by NISA.
The reported death of Nunow marks the fourth instance of senior Shabaab commanders being announced as dead by Somalia in 2026. In January, NISA also claimed to have killed Abdullahi Osman, Haji Nunow’s successor as leader of Shabaab’s Amniyat. In July, Somalia’s Ministry of Defense said that Maalin Jinow Ibrahim, a reported co-founder of Shabaab and a member of its central shura council, was killed. In August, Somalia claimed it killed Abdullahi Hashi Labajir, who acted as the “head of intelligence” in the Amniyat.
Shabaab never confirmed the deaths of Abdullahi Osman, Maalin Jinow Ibrahim, or Abdullahi Hashi Labajir. Somalia also claimed to have eliminated Jaafar Gurey, another co-founder of the Al Qaeda branch, in October 2025, and Shabaab never confirmed his reported death.
Over the last few years, Somalia has eliminated several other senior and mid-to-low-level Shabaab commanders and personnel across much of central and southern portions of the country. However, much of the jihadist group’s senior leadership remains intact. Notably, some 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, the United Nations Sanctions and Monitoring Team reported that Ayman was still alive and operational in July 2024.
If Nunow is confirmed dead, it would be yet another blow to the group’s senior leadership and its remaining historical cadres. However, given Shabaab’s continued ability to operate across much of southern and central Somalia, the group’s leadership losses do not necessarily equate to a decline in military capability.
