Mogadishu: – Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) announced today that it has arrested an alleged arms smuggler supplying weapons to the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group al-Shabaab.
According to a statement from NISA, 28-year-old Sakariye Kamal Sufi Abba-Sheikh was arrested for allegedly purchasing weapons, ammunition and explosives for al-Shabaab militants. Abba-Sheikh was also accused of planning to escape to al-Shabaab controlled areas.
The state media reported that Abba-Sheikh was the ringleader of a group that smuggled military supplies to al-Shabaab operatives outside the country and smuggled commercial goods into the militant-held territories. In May this year, security forces seized smuggled equipment hidden at Mogadishu’s main port and airport.
Al-Shabaab has been engaged in a long war against the Somali government to overthrow it and establish an Islamic state based on their particular interpretation of the Sharia law. Somalia struggles with porous borders and entrenched corruption enabling terrorist groups to still acquire weapons and ammunition.
Abba-Sheikh will be brought to court soon, according to the national broadcaster SNTV.
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