The US has confirmed that Al-Shabaab leader Mohamed Mire, who served as the militant group’s finance boss during the Westgate Mall and Dusit-D2 attacks in 2013 and 2019, respectively, was killed in an airstrike on December 24, 2024.
The US Africa Command (USAC) on Monday said it initiated the airstrike near Quyno Barrow, some 260 kilometres from the capital Mogadishu, killing two Al-Shabaab militants, including Mire.
“On December 24, 2024, in coordination with FGS, US Africa Command conducted a precision airstrike that resulted in the death of senior Al-Shaabab leader, Mohamed Mire, and another Al-Shaabab militant,” USAC said in a statement, adding that the strike did not inflict any harm on civilians.
“Somalia remains central to the security environment in East Africa. US Africa Command forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to degrade al-Shabaab.”
Before his death, Mire, also known as Abu Abdirahman, had been responsible for Al-Shaabab’s regional governance in Somalia for the last 15 years.
“In addition to being one of Al-Shaabab’s longest-serving members, Mire served as the Interior minister and played a key role in the group’s strategic decision-making.”
US Marine Corps AFRICOM commander, General Michael Langley, said that the US’s national security strategy was focused on countering the evolving threats in terrorism, adding that militant groups remain a serious barrier to attaining peace and development across the world.
“In 2024, the Global Terrorism Index highlighted that terrorist organisations remain a serious global threat. Al-Shabaab is one of these threats, and we partner with like-minded nations in the region to combat them and other malign actors. Uniting against these transnational threats promotes regional security, stability, and prosperity,” he said.
On October 17, 2022, the US Department of State identified Mire as a specially designated global terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.
"He was not lucky this month when American aircraft bombed him on the night of 24 December 2024," Al-Shabaab said in a statement dated December 24, 2024.
Commenting on his death, the Somali government said it was its forces, supported by international partners, which "successfully neutralised Mohamed Mire Jama, alias Abu Abdirahman, in an operation conducted in Kunya-Barrow, Lower Shabelle".
Before being promoted to crucial positions in the militant group’s structure including the financial role and later on the Interior minister, Mire was the group's shadow boss in the volatile Hiraan region in Somalia.
Mire has been involved with Al-Shabaab in financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or executing attacks in both Kenya and Somalia.
During the Westgate attack on September 12, 2013, four attackers entered the mall in Nairobi and shot and killed several civilians.
While the security forces, supported by international partners, managed to kill all four attackers in their response, 62 civilians and five Kenyan Defence Forces officers lost their lives during the four-day siege.
On January 15, 2019, Al-Shabaab launched another attack on Kenyan soil when five militants stormed 14 Riverside Drive in Nairobi. The attack claimed the lives of 21 civilians and one GSU officer.
All five attackers were killed in the response by security officials, and the complex was secured on January 16, 2019.
On May 21, 2024, the UN Security Council listed Mire as a global threat for his involvement with Al-Shabaab.
“He participates in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of Al-Shabaab,” the council said.
Mire was also linked to Al Ittihad al Islamiyya (AIAI), Somalia's largest jihadist group, which operated in the 1990s. The group was heavily involved in disrupting operations by the UN, the US, and Ethiopia.
According to the UN Security Council, Mire was a senior Shabaab leader who was “responsible for the Shabaab tax-collection wing and therefore is or has been involved in participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities on behalf of al-Shabaab.”
He was listed alongside other top Shabaab commanders, including Yasir Jiis, who is the commander of the armed wing known asJabha, responsible for carrying out attacks.
Another operative listed was Yusuf Ahmed Hajji Nurow, alias Gees Ade, who is in charge of Amniyat, Shabaab's intelligence wing.
“Amniyat plays a key role in the execution of suicide attacks and assassinations in the region,” the UN Security Council said.
Also listed was Mustaf 'Ato, who is a senior Amniyat official and has been held responsible for carrying out attacks in Somalia and Kenya.
Last on the list is Mohamoud Abdi Aden, whose name was widely mentioned during the Dusit D2 attack in 2019.
In 2022, a US drone strike killed Abdullahi Yare, another Al-Shabaab militant.
In 2023, reports circulated that senior Al-Shabaab commander Maalim Ayman, who heads the Jaysh al-Ayman military unit, had been killed.
However, the UN Sanctions and Monitoring Team said in July 2024 that he was still alive.
