Shabaab kills pro-Islamic State commander
Tuesday January 15, 2019
Al-Shabaab militants recently gunned down a pro-Islamic State commander in the southern Somali town of Bu’ale. Shabaab has not confirmed this event, but it rarely publicly comments on assassinations or executions of this nature.
Fiile reportedly entered some sort of reconciliation process with Shabaab prior to his assassination, according to both Garowe and Voice of America reporter Harun Maruf. It is likely Shabaab’s recent declaration of war on the Islamic State in Somalia (ISS) shattered whatever peace the two achieved.
Prior to yesterday’s assassination of Fiile, Shabaab and ISS-loyal militants clashed near the borders with Kenya late last month. Earlier in mid-December, the Islamic State claimed that its men in Somalia battled with Al-Shabaab "southwest of Qandala,” and that it had killed 14 members of the al Qaeda branch. It was this latter event that prompted the declaration of war by Shabaab.
With Shabaab continuing to target ISS members and pro-ISS members within its own ranks, it is unlikely Fiile will be the last commander to be killed by the al Qaeda branch.
Shabaab kills pro-Islamic State commander
Yahya Haji Fiile, known as Abu Zakariye, was killed in the district after Shabaab intelligence linked him to the Islamic State in Somalia." Fiile, a former top Al-Shabaab commander, initially fell out with the jihadist group in 2016 after it