Has the Islamist State’s elusive financier died in a US strike?

On February 1, the U.S. African command, in coordination with the Somalian government conducted airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS), claiming to kill an unknown number of its operatives. In a post on social media, the U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the precision military air strike was aimed at a senior IS attack planner. He did not name the planner, but there are murmurs within the security establishment that he is referring to Abdul Qadir Mumin, the Somali leader of the Islamic State. According to Tore Hamming of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), Mumin is the most important person as he is the one controlling the global Islamic State network. He was believed to have been killed in an American strike a few months ago as well, but that turned out to be untrue. Even now, as this report is being written, there is no official confirmation of his death.

Mumin, security analysts believe is vital to sustaining financial support to the Islamic State. Hamming told the news agency AFP that it is through Mumin’s network in Somalia that money is sent to countries ranging from Congo to Afghanistan. The transactions are difficult to trace and hence there is no way to find out the extent of these transactions.

Mumin’s trajectory is quite similar to many other radical Islamists. He was born in Somalia’s northeast province of Puntland and made his way to Sweden before shifting to London where his reputation as a fiery preacher grew rapidly. It is his speeches that are believed to have radicalised future terrorists like Michael Adebojalo, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the 2013 murder of British soldier Lee Rigby. In 2012, Mumin shifted back to Somalia and joined the al-Shabab, a terrorist organisation affiliated with the Al-Qaeda. Later, he defected and pledged allegiance to IS, becoming instrumental in its foundation in Somalia.

In 2019, intelligence agencies had warned that Mumin was trying to take advantage of the death of the IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (killed after a US raid in Syria) to become the main leader of the IS. In a 2016 photo, he is seen with a henna-dyed beard that many believe is his way to declare a rejection of western values. He is not an Arab, but is still seen as a caliph (which, traditionally, has to be someone from a tribe linked to the prophet). His profile of leadership, according to CTC Sentinel, that monitors terrorist threats, parallels that of Osama bin Laden, who, it says “saw that funding his war was most central to winning it.”

Mumin’s rise was also seen as the Islamic State’s growing influence in Africa. Its operations in Africa were more effective because international security agencies have limited influence in these parts. If he has indeed been killed, it would mean a big blow to the IS operations.

Abdul Qadir MuminIslamic StateLee RigbySomaliaTrumpUS strike