Somalia sanctions former South West leader and nine others over Al-Shabaab links

Somalia has imposed financial sanctions on ten individuals, including former South West State president Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen, due to suspected links to the Al-Qaeda-linked group Al-Shabaab. The decision was issued by the National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism following an assessment of evidence suggesting involvement in financing or cooperating with the insurgent group.

Among those sanctioned is Mahad Abdirahman Adan, a former commander of the Somali Custodial Corps, and Hassan Abdi Mohamed, a spokesman for Laftagareen. The committee’s directive requires banks and other regulated entities to freeze the assets of the listed individuals and block any transactions involving them. All related activities must be reported to the country’s Financial Reporting Centre.

The sanctions arrive amid ongoing political and security tensions in South West State following the removal of Laftagareen’s administration by federal authorities. While the committee stated there were sufficient legal grounds for the measures, it did not publicly disclose the specific evidence or the exact activities attributed to each individual on the list.