Somalia Launches High-Level Drive to Cut Terror Funding at Community Level

GOOBJOO NEWS | MOGADISHU: Somalia’s Ministry of Interior has launched a renewed push to counter the financing of terrorism, holding a high-level meeting with traditional elders and civil society leaders to confront what it described as a growing threat to national stability.

The session, chaired by Deputy Minister Abdihakim Hassan Ashkir and attended by Director General Aydrus Moallim Hassan, focused on the role local communities must play in identifying and disrupting the flow of money to extremist groups, particularly Al-Shabaab.

“This meeting is not symbolic, it is strategic. Terrorist financing is a direct attack on Somalia’s future. It’s funding bullets, bombs, and fear in the heart of our society,” Ashkir remarked.

The forum comes amid intensifying efforts by the Somali government to cut off financial lifelines to militants who continue to exploit communities through extortion and religious manipulation.

A key tactic involves pressuring citizens to pay “baad”, a form of forced levy masquerading as religious obligation.

Ashkir said combating these financial flows requires more than government enforcement. “We need traditional leaders and civil society to be at the frontlines. Raise awareness, push back against fear, and educate communities on the cost of silence.”

Participants echoed these sentiments, warning that without coordinated local action, Somalia’s hard-won progress in security and state-building could be reversed. Elders described Al-Shabaab’s financing methods as “predatory” and rooted in a calculated effort to undermine national unity through fear and false piety.

The meeting is part of the Ministry’s broader campaign to align grassroots leadership with national counter-terrorism strategies, with a strong emphasis on prevention, public education, and institutional coordination.

Officials say the outcome of such forums could be decisive in Somalia’s struggle to secure peace and prevent extremist resurgence.