Nairobi, Kenya (WDN) – Former Somali Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Security Advisor to President Farmaajo, Abdisaid Muse, has revealed that international intelligence agencies have infiltrated the Al-Shabaab militant group with undercover operatives.
Speaking during a panel discussion in Nairobi focused on terrorism threats in Somalia, Abdisaid stated that foreign agencies embed agents within Al-Shabaab primarily to monitor the group’s movements and preempt potential security threats to their own countries.
“The presence of highly skilled operatives within Al-Shabaab—individuals proficient in modern technologies or digital financial systems—raises the risk that they could inadvertently aid the group’s activities,” Abdisaid warned.
Abdisaid called for a unified Somali strategy aimed at countering both direct and indirect support to extremist groups. He urged greater collaboration between Somalia’s domestic security agencies and international partners, but stressed that such cooperation must be rooted in Somali-led priorities
He noted that international intelligence services also view it as crucial to track citizens from their own countries who may be joining Al-Shabaab. However, he cautioned that the long-term consequence of this strategy is the entrenchment of the very threats they seek to monitor.
WardheerNews followed up with the former Minister regarding his comments. Below are the questions and his responses:
WardheerNews (WDN): In the security forum, you alleged that certain international intelligence agencies are embedded within Al-Shabaab. How can you substantiate this claim?
Abdisaid: The reference was based on credible reports, security analyses, and patterns observed over a decade of interacting with different actors and engagements across multilevel domains. These include informal contacts with Al-Shabaab-linked intermediaries, behavioral indicators of selective targeting, testimonies from former Al Shabab members, regional security officials, and occasional compromise of operations suggestive of leaks.
It is important to stress that this does not imply official sponsorship by any state, but highlights transactional interactions by certain operatives or their intermediaries.
WDN: Can you identify the countries whose intelligence agencies you believe are involved with Al-Shabaab?
Abdisaid: Given the sensitivity and the absence of declassified documents, it would be inappropriate to publicly name specific intelligence agencies or countries.
Generally, suspicion has focused on regional actors with deep interests in Somalia’s internal affairs, and on powerful global intelligence structures involved in counterterrorism operations where tactical considerations may have taken precedence over full strategic defeat of Al-Shabaab.
WDN: What implications do you believe this involvement could have on the security and stability of Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa region?
Abdisaid: The implications are serious. When people believe that powerful hands are steering events from behind the scenes, it’s not just trust that breaks down, it’s the very foundation of state building processes needed to build peaceful transformation. In Somalia, that loss of trust doesn’t just delay the end of conflict; it hands groups like Al-Shabaab more space to grow, to build more bridges, and fuels the cycles of violence that have already torn through the country for decades.
It also undercuts Somalia’s fragile efforts to rebuild a sovereign state institution— a state that, after so many years of collapse, desperately needs to stand on its own, without shadows hanging over it. Worse still, it feeds the extremist narratives that drive new generations into the arms of insurgents.
The only real path to lasting peace is a Somali-led process—one rooted in legitimacy, inclusion, and the trust of the people it seeks to serve.
WardheerNews