Mahad Salad was initially appointed as NISA chief on 26 May 2022 but was dismissed on 4 April 2024 following numerous allegations of targeted attacks on media institutions, civil society groups, and minority communities, as reported by the media. Sadly no investigation was made into his crimes. He was reappointed on 1 June 2025 and officially assumed office Saturday 14 June.

Targeted Crackdown on SJS and Independent Media

On 10 October 2022, NISA agents raided the offices of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) in Mogadishu after staff had completed their workday. CCTV footage obtained by SJS shows the operation was led by a former Al-Shabaab defector employed by NISA.

On 11 October 2022, SJS Secretary-General Abdalle Ahmed Mumin was abducted at Mogadishu Aden Adde International Airport and held incommunicado for 11 days in an underground cell. During his detention, he survived torture and an assassination attempt. On 13 April 2024, Banadir Court froze SJS bank accounts, using leaked private information supplied by Premier Bank, a bank tied to the Somali government. Further,  NISA officers interrupted SJS women journalists’ training in Mogadishu in January 2024.

On 23 February 2023, Mumin was re-arrested by NISA and police officers under orders from Mahad Salad and in coordination with Deputy Minister of Information Abdirahman Yusuf Al-Adala. He endured 33 days of torture and mistreatment in secret facilities until he was released in late March 2023 and forced to leave the country.

Under Salad’s direction, journalists in Mogadishu and beyond were subjected to surveillance, arbitrary arrests, violence, and threats. SJS has documented the following incidents:

• 30 November 2022: Journalists at the People’s House (Federal Parliament) were threatened with death or imprisonment for questioning lawmakers about the Villa Rays hotel attack.
• 18 December 2022: UK-based Channel 4 correspondent Jamal Muhumed Osman, a Somali-British, was unlawfully detained and sent back by NISA agents while he was arriving for journalism assignment.
• 19 December 2022: NISA officers assaulted Arlaadi Media reporter Mohamed Nur Mohamed inside the Parliament premises.
• 24 December 2022: SJS legal officer Abdirahman Hassan Omar and staff members were unlawfully detained at Mogadishu airport by NISA agents under Mahad Salad en route to a journalist training in Hiiraan.
• 24 December 2022: Arlaadi Media editor Aweys Bashir Abdirahman was beaten near KM4 by suspected NISA agents.
• 10 February 2023: SJS legal adviser Abdirahman Hassan Omar was attacked by four armed men in a targeted assault. The attack occured in Bakaro market area controlled by NISA.
• 20 February 2023: Radio Kulmiye journalists Ali Elmi Salad and Sakariye Mohamed Salad were arrested and interrogated by NISA.
• 7 April 2023: NISA officer in-charge of the Mogadishu airport, Mahad Arab Dhiblawe issued public threats against SJS Secretary General Abdalle Mumin and journalists from Risaala Media following an interview Mr. Mumin gave to the radio in relation to his arrest and kidnapping by NISA in Mogadishu. Days later, the journalist said he was forced to remove an interview with Abdalle Mumin following online attacks from the Somali Ministry of Information.
• In August 2023, SJS’s website and email systems were put offline by a wave DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks traced to IP addresses rented by criminal groups believed to be linked to NISA. The non-profit group Qurium which investigated the attacks and made its analysis indicated that it thwarted “nearly 20,000 IP addresses coming to SJS website with millions of requests” on August 18 and 19. The attack began on the heels of the kidnapping of SJS Secretary of Information and Human Rights, Mohamed Ibrahim Bulbul by NISA in Mogadishu.
• On 17 August 2023, SJS Secretary of Information and Human Rights, Mohamed Ibrahim Bulbul, was kidnapped by NISA and police agents and held for 56 days after exposing police corruption.

Expansion of Abuses Beyond Media: Extortion and Extrajudicial Killings

Journalists and editors have reported to SJS how insiders working as informants within media houses monitored and threatened journalists critical of NISA. This has forced many Somali journalists into self-censorship or exile to avoid persecution.

Between May 2022 and April 2024, a new tactic emerged involving the use of bribes and social media trolls to discredit, harass, and threaten journalists and civil society actors. These troll networks—funded through covert channels by NISA—have systematically targeted government critics, often smearing their reputations or inciting violence against them online.

In some cases, journalists were also threatened by Al-Shabaab operatives after reporting critically on NISA leadership, illustrating the dangerous double-bind facing independent media in Somalia—caught between state repression and extremist threats.

In February 2024, journalists reporting on the murder of UK-trained Somali air traffic controller Abdinasir Muse Dahable—who was found murdered after being tortured—were threatened by NISA officers linked to Mahad Salad. The killing was linked to NISA officers under Salad’s command, one of whom fled to Nairobi. Five men who were also arrested by NISA following the Dahable’s death were reported to have endured torture under NISA.

No independent investigation has been carried out to date; however, local journalists told SJS they were threatened with “death or disappearance” if they spoke about the case.

On 18 March 2024, a Turkish drone strike in Afgoye based on faulty NISA intel killed 23 civilians. Amnesty International investigation found that civilians killed in the strikes included 14 children, five women and four men. Another 17 civilians were injured in the strikes: 11 children, two women and four men. All are from the marginalized Gorgaarte clan. Families seeking justice were threatened by NISA and accused of terrorist affiliations. Mahad Salad aides also threatened reporters on the ground who were investigating the incident.

SJS reiterates that holding Mahad Mohamed Salad accountable would be a critical step toward ending the entrenched culture of impunity—not only for attacks on journalists, but also for the widespread abuses inflicted on Somalia’s most vulnerable communities during his tenure—thereby contributing to lasting peace, stability, and the restoration of the rule of law in the country.

“Instead of holding him accountable, the Somali government has rewarded Mahad Mohamed Salad with his crimes, greenlighting more abuses against journalists and marginalized communities,” said SJS President Mohamed Ibrahim. “We urge the Somali government to immediately review this decision, remove Salad, and prosecute him. His victims deserve justice and protection. He should not be allowed to rule with terror again.”

“We also call on the international community, including press freedom and human rights organizations, to speak out and support accountability efforts—those who suffered under his leadership are still waiting for justice,” Mr. Ibrahim added.

The post Mahad Salad’s Return to NISA Signals a Dark Turn for Press Freedom in Somalia appeared first on Kaab TV.

In a chilling exposé, Aweys disclosed that 10 officers within NISA had been apprehended for their alleged espionage on behalf of the notorious Al-Shabaab group while two others fled, a revelation that unravels the core of Somalia’s security agency.

Addressing at a press briefing at the Ministry of Information headquarters, Minister Aweys unveiled an account of the unraveling saga. “NISA targets the various moles created in the government departments,” he asserted, laying bare the ominous truth that extends beyond the confines of the security apparatus.

“The Federal Government of Somalia, especially NISA, which has been investigating and monitoring for a long time, has found out that there are people working in the security agencies and government departments passing information to Al-Shabaab,” he emphasized, underscoring the extent of the crisis that reaches deep into the fabric of the nation’s governance.

NISA has taken to its Twitter account to publish images of the two men who allegedly fled, with one of them donning a police uniform. In a tweet, NISA implored, “We pursue these wanted fugitives. Abdisatar Abdikadir Isse and Ayanle Mohamed Ali. If you have any information that can lead their arrest, please contact security agencies.”

We pursue these wanted fugitives.

Abdisatar Abdikadir Isse and Ayanle Mohamed Ali.

If you have any information that can lead their arrest, please contact security agencies. pic.twitter.com/DxTezhgrTM

— NISA (@HSNQ_NISA) August 4, 2023

Our investigation now uncovers that Abdisatar Abdikadir Isse is a member of the influential Abgal’s Waceysle – a sub-clan of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. In contrast, Ayanle Mohamed Ali hails from the Ajuuraan minority group. According to intelligence sources, both have held senior positions within NISA, having defected from the militant group and subsequently rising to prominent roles within the spy agency.

The startling revelation has ignited a firestorm of speculation, raising profound concerns about the nation’s stability and security. The insidious incursion of Al-Shabaab into the very corridors of power has unveiled an intricate web of intrigue and compromise that defies easy resolution.

“The problem is bigger than it is thought”

In a nation beleaguered by conflict and strife, Somalia has grappled with the enigma of a hybrid force that blurs the boundaries between, clan rivalry, insurgency and governance. The revelation of Al-Shabaab’s tentacles reaching within NISA’s ranks underscores the gravity of a situation that was long suspected by government officials and the general public alike.

This is a crisis that stretches beyond the walls of a single institution. Speaking under conditions of anonymity, a security source revealed, “The problem is bigger than it is thought, and it is difficult to fathom how quickly this issue can be remedied unless a complete overhaul is carried out.”

The roots of this crisis can be traced back to a complex history. Since the inception of a defector program for Al-Shabaab in 2014, the ranks of NISA have swelled with recruits, unwittingly facilitating the sinister designs of Al-Shabaab’s intelligence wing, Amniyat. The infiltration allowed the extremist group to orchestrate a series of audacious and lethal attacks, including the targeted assassination of former Mogadishu Mayor Abdirahman Omar and the mysterious ‘death’ of a prominent young female NISA officer, Ikran Tahlil Farah in June 2021.

Al-Shabaab’s audacity reached new heights under the watchful eye of Mahad Mohamed Salad, who assumed the helm of NISA in late May 2022. The association between Salad and Al-Shabaab leaders raised chilling questions about the extent of compromise within the very echelons of power.

Al-Shabaab’s bold attacks have left an indelible scar on the nation. A relentless onslaught has yielded a harrowing toll, with more than 1,470 valiant soldiers and commanders losing their lives between June 2022 and May 2023, according to figures provided by the National Security Committee and whose details still kept secret. The unrelenting strikes have amplified suspicions that a wellspring of intelligence has emboldened the extremist group, granting them the ability to meticulously plan and execute their nefarious operations.

“Between June 2022 and May 2023, the frequency of attacks surpasses what Al-Shabaab had achieved in the previous three years, particularly targeting military objectives,” observed Abdirahman Nur, a counter-terrorism analyst.

He emphasized, “The execution of these significant and high-profile attacks by Al-Shabaab necessitates access to credible intelligence information and human resources. This raises questions about potential anomalies.”

Amidst the dozens of attacks, notable military figures, including both U.S. and Turkish-trained officers, were targeted and slain by the assailants, with several being recognized as Mahad Salad’s critics and notably originating from rival clans to his own.

In the wake of the harrowing suicide bombing assault that struck a military base in Mogadishu on the 24th of July, a resounding chorus of voices emerged, with Members of Parliament and grieving families of fallen soldiers refusing to be silenced by the horrors. Even the Speaker of Parliament, Sheikh Adan Madobe, could not withhold his own impassioned plea to demand ‘accountability and honest investigation’.

The collective call reverberated with clarity: an unequivocal demand for NISA Director Mahad Salad’s inclusion in the roster of suspects under investigation. Yet, disconcerting reports surfaced, alleging that President Hassan Sheikh swiftly interceded, wielding influence to exert palpable pressure upon the Speaker of Parliament, ultimately compelling the abandonment of the request.

The intricate web of infiltration delves into various captivating incidents. In a stunning twist, Mahad Karate (also known as Abdirahman Warsame), the U.S. Government-designated deputy emir of Al-Shabaab, took center stage as NISA intercepted communications between him and two young members of his family who had been detained in Mogadishu in May this year.

Set in Mogadishu’s Hodan neighborhood, an initial investigation revealed their alleged involvement as intelligence agents and were subsequently detained at Godka Jilacow. They were, however, freed following the intervention of Mahad Salad, ostensibly stalling the active probe adding a layer of complexity to this covert affair.

A disconcerting number of young NISA officers, some previously part of the extremist group, have ascended into leadership roles, potentially compromising national security. The apparent motivations behind this manipulation range from financial incentives and protection promises to the potent mix of clan rivalry and ideological enticements. Former NISA officer Gedi Ali’s astonishment at their unhindered ascent into pivotal positions underlines the urgency of comprehensive vetting mechanisms.

The consequences of this infiltration extend far beyond NISA’s walls. The insidious reach of Al-Shabaab is painted starkly by Minister Daud Aweys, revealing an alarming pattern of moles within various government departments.

“The Federal Government of Somalia, with a particular focus on NISA, has conducted extensive investigations and vigilantly monitored the situation over an extended period. These efforts have unveiled a disconcerting reality: there exist individuals within the security agencies and government departments who have been clandestinely funneling information to Al-Shabaab,” he elaborated.

As the intricate layers of this narrative unravel, the story casts a shadow of doubt over the very institutions sworn to protect the nation, demanding a response that goes beyond surface-level measures.

And that was exactly what has been described by the senior police officials, in their recent briefing to the president, hold a steadfast conviction that virtually no ministry or government agency has remained immune to the infiltration of Al-Shabaab as they underscored the complex web of allegiances and interests, the impact of Al-Shabaab’s infiltration as far-reaching.

The magnitude of this crisis challenges Somalia’s resilience and necessitates a comprehensive response to stem the tide of compromise that has seeped into the heart of the nation.

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