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Somalia’s intelligence agency shuts down 20 Al-Shabaab cybercrime groups

Somalia National intelligence headquarters.

By Hassan Mohamed | Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The cybercrime unit of Somalia’s National Intelligence Agency (NISA) announced on Tuesday that it has successfully cracked down on and closed an Al-Shabaab criminal ring responsible for spreading propaganda.

The cybercrime unit of Somalia’s National Intelligence Agency (NISA) announced on Tuesday that it has successfully cracked down on and closed an Al-Shabaab criminal ring responsible for spreading propaganda, intimidating people, and extorting money from the public.

The statement did not specify the number of Al-Shabaab militants arrested or killed during the crackdown on their cybercrime activities.

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“The Cybercrime Unit of NISA managed to cut off nearly 20 Al-Shabaab communication groups that the terrorists were using to intimidate the Somali public. The membership numbers of these groups, which totaled 2,500, were also blocked for OTT calls like WhatsApp and other related applications,” the NISA statement in Somali language read.

The agency warned the public against associating themselves with or being used by Al-Shabaab, urging them not to join WhatsApp groups or online channels to avoid punitive measures in line with counter-terrorism policies and laws. This follows the government's previous announcement of shutting down Al-Shabaab’s financial infrastructure by closing 250 militants-connected bank accounts in four local banks and disrupting the network and data services for about 70 mobile phones used by the group for money transfers.

Somalia has several mobile money transfer platforms, similar to Mpesa, widely used for financial transactions. Al-Shabaab also utilizes these systems for paying fighters and conducting illicit activities, estimated to generate around Usd100 million annually through illegal taxation and coercion of businesses, particularly in government-controlled areas.

The successful cyber operation is part of a broader three-pronged war against Al-Shabaab, including an economic war and social boycott, an intellectual war challenging the extremist ideology, and a military assault on the group. These strategies have been implemented and are ongoing.