Fuad Qalaf

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Fu'aad Mohamed Shangole
BornMarch 28, 1965
NationalitySomali Swedish

Fuad Mohamed Qalaf (

Islamist
.

Working as an cleric in Sweden during the 90s and early 2000s, he returned to Somalia in 2004 and eventually became a senior figure within the

Al-Shabaab.[1] Presently he holds a seat on Al-Shabaab's Shura Council and is believed to head the groups operations in Puntland state.[2]

Biography

Born in Mogadishu,[citation needed] Qalaf came to Sweden as an asylum seeker in 1992 and later received Swedish citizenship.[3][4] He stayed in Sweden for twelve years, most of the time preaching as an Imam at mosque in the Rinkeby district in Stockholm (Swedish: Rinkebymoskén).[3][4][5] As such, he worked to influence young Muslims about Jihad.[3] He was openly sympathetic towards al-Qaeda and collected money towards financing the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia as well as recruiting youth to both the Islamic Courts Union and later also to al-Shabaab.[5] He was also a prolific lecturer at the Bellevue Mosque in Gothenburg.[5]

In 2004, Qalaf returned to Somalia together with his family to fight with the

Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in December 2006 and the subsequent fall of the ICU-government, Qalaf and other ICU leaders fled to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.[7] In April 2007 he was reported as living in Kenya.[3]

In 2007 or 2008 he returned to Somalia to fight with

Islamic clothing laws. Later during the day, according to the same source, he also cut the hand of a Somali man who was accused of theft. The man had stolen money and clothes to the value of approximately US$100.[8]

In May 2014, Qalaf stated that al-Shabab fighters would carry out jihad, or holy war, in Kenya and Uganda "and afterward, with God's will, to America."[9]

In 2021 the United States government put a $6 million dollar bounty for information that could lead to Qalafs capture.[10]

Major General Tesfaye Ayalew of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) claimed to have killed Qalaf[11][12] in an airstrike on 29 July 2022.[13] On 3 August Al Shabaab released a voice recording of Qalaf, who denied Ethiopian forces killed him on July 29. He further stated that al Shabaab would continue to attack the Somali Regional Liyu police.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Abdi, Mohamed (2009-05-06). "Somalia: Al-Shabab angered by Somali key Media Org" (in Swedish). Waagacusub Media. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  2. ^ "Fuad Muhammad Khalaf Shongole". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Kino, Nuri (2007-04-16). "Islamistisk ledare värvade i Sverige" (in Swedish). Metro. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  4. ^ a b c Farah, Mohamed Abdi (2006-10-11). "Somalia: abroad Somali communities urged to return home for Jihad". SomaliNet. Archived from the original on 2006-10-18. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
  5. ^ a b c Magnus Ranstorp, Filip Ahlin, Peder Hyllengren, Magnus Normark. Mellan salafism och salafistisk jihadism - Påverkan mot och utmaningar för det svenska samhället (PDF). 2018: Swedish Defence University. p. 63. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-04. Retrieved 2018-07-01.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Somalia: The Tough Part is Ahead". Sultan Hurre Human Rights Focus. 2007-01-26. Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  7. ^ Khalif, Abdulkadir (2007-01-29). "West 'backing the wrong horse' in Mogadishu peace initiatives". The East African. Archived from the original on February 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  8. ^ Levy, Oscar (2009-05-09). "Svensk shejk hugger av tjuvens hand" (in Swedish). Nyheter24. Archived from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  9. ^ Fox news: "Somali extremist leader threatens US, Kenya, Uganda with more attacks" May 22, 2014
  10. ^ "Somalia: US places $6 million bounty on top Al-Shabaab leaders". Garowe Online. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  11. ^ "Ethiopia says it has killed top Al-Shabaab leaders in attack". KEYDMEDIA ONLINE. 2022-07-30. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  12. ^ Kulkarni, Pavan (2022-08-01). "Key Al-Shabaab leaders killed in attacks along Ethiopia-Somalia border". Peoples Dispatch. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  13. ^ a b "Gulf of Aden Security Review – August 5, 2022". Critical Threats. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
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