A recent operation carried out by US Central Command targeted and killed three ISIS leaders in Somalia, shedding light on the extent of the organization’s influence and the roles of its leaders compared to other regions worldwide. The focus of the attack was to eliminate ISIS leader Abdulkadir Mumin in Somalia, whose leadership role extends beyond Somalia and East Africa to include leadership of central ISIS. He is likely to be the successor (Abu Hafs al-Hashimi).

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According to assessments by “Al Arab” newspaper, Abdulkadir Mumin played a pivotal role in the global organization of ISIS before his targeting. US officials have acknowledged that he was not just a leader of ISIS in Somalia but the actual central leader of ISIS. Mumin founded the ISIS branch in Somalia after returning from the UK and splitting from Al-Shabaab in 2015. He is considered one of the three most influential figures within ISIS alongside Abu Hafs al-Iraqi, the head of the office of Mesopotamia, and Shihab al-Muhajir (Thanaa al-Ghafari), the leader of ISIS in Khorasan.

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The newspaper noted that targeting Abdulkadir Mumin and revealing the nature of his cross-border responsibilities at the helm of global ISIS has had a reverse effect in favor of the organization. It highlighted his efforts in transferring its weight and centrality from Iraq and Syria to Africa, not only in terms of the number and types of attacks, financial responsibilities, but also in terms of taking on the role of Caliph.

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This evolution strengthens the position of ISIS African branches, which have become central hubs and are currently highly regarded among jihadists for their ability to control the financial needs of most of the factions that pledge allegiance to them worldwide, through the main organization’s treasury or what is known as the (Al-Karr) office, in addition to controlling strategic and vital areas.

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This shift has demonstrated significant transformation within ISIS branches in Africa over the past two years, moving African arenas from mere neglected regions, where it is easy to incur major losses in military confrontations against Al-Qaeda or security agencies, into the most powerful ISIS strongholds capable of launching quality and sophisticated attacks, recruiting systems, and defensive tactics.