A recent United Nations Security Council document has highlighted Al-Shabaab’s ongoing activities in Sool, raising fresh alarms in Somaliland amid reports of the militant group’s efforts to exploit regional power vacuums and extend its influence toward contested areas such as Las Anod.
In a letter dated 28 November 2025 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 2713 (2023) concerning Al-Shabaab, addressed to the President of the Security Council, the attached report from the Panel of Experts (document S/2025/777) details the group’s strategic maneuvers following the degradation of the Islamic State in Somalia (ISIL-Somalia) affiliate.
The report notes that Al-Shabaab views the weakening of ISIL-Somalia as an opportunity to fill the resulting power vacuum, expand its territorial control, and increase its influence beyond its traditional strongholds in the Galgala area and the Cal Madow mountains in Puntland’s Bari region.
Key findings include:
- Al-Shabaab deployed fighters into the newly formed North-East State (NES), Somaliland’s eastern Sanaag region in 2025, with approximately 400 militants positioned around Galgala.
- An additional 200 fighters are operating in the southern parts of North-East State, Sool region under the command of Abdi Madobe, a veteran senior Al-Shabaab leader in the area.
- The militants’ apparent objective is to gain greater control over territories and key supply routes leading to Erigavo in the Sanaag region, which borders contested zones including parts of Sool.
The report also cites a specific incident underscoring the group’s reach into Somaliland-administered areas: On 6 September 2025, Ahmed Cadib—described as an Al-Shabaab logistics operative responsible for facilitating links and coordination between Erigavo and Galgala—was killed in Hargeisa, Somaliland, (Although the Somaliland police investigation confirmed that he committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol, and the room was locked from the inside.)
This killing highlights Al-Shabaab’s continued operational presence and networks in eastern Somaliland, even in areas under Somaliland’s administration.
Somaliland authorities have long expressed concerns over potential militant infiltration that exploits clan dynamics and political disputes in these disputed territories. Reports from three years ago already warned of such risks, yet neither the United Nations nor the broader international community has adequately acknowledged or acted to prevent this growing threat.
Somaliland had previously warned of collaboration between Al-Shabaab and the Somali government. Regrettably, clear evidence of this has now surfaced: a photograph shows Abdi Madobe, Al-Shabaab’s leader in Las Anod, posing together with Asad Diyano, Commander of the Somali Police Force.
Nevertheless, the most recent UN Panel of Experts Report makes no mention of — nor contains any criticism regarding — this alleged cooperation.