Ahmad Diriye
Ahmad Diriye | |
---|---|
Image of Ahmad Diriye taken from U.S. State Department | |
Born | Ahmad Umar 1972 (age 51–52)[1] El Buur, Somali Democratic Republic |
Other names | Sheikh Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah, Sheikh Omar Abu Ubaidaha, Sheikh Ahmed Umar, Sheikh Mahad Omar Abdikarim, Abu Ubaidah, Abu Diriye, Diriye |
Known for | Leader of Al-Shabaab |
Ahmad Diriye (Somali: Axmed Diriye, Arabic: أحمد ديري; born 1972), also known as Ahmad Umar or Abu Ubaidah al-Somali, is the Emir of Somalia’s Islamist group Al-Shabaab. He was listed by the U.S. State Department as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in April 2015. The Rewards for Justice Program currently offers up to 10 million USD for information regarding him.[1]
History
Ahmad Diriye was born in 1972 in El Buur, Somalia (formerly the Somali Democratic Republic).[2]
He is believed to be in his fifties and is a member of the Bijamal subclan of the Dir clan from the Kismayo region of Somalia.[1]
Ahmad Diriye became the leader of al-Shabaab following the death of the group's former leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, in September 2014. Prior to replacing Godane, Diriye served in several positions within al-Shabaab, including as Godane's assistant, the deputy governor of Lower Juba region in 2008, and al-Shabaab's governor of Bay and Bakool regions in 2009. By 2013, he was a senior adviser to Godane and served in al-Shabaab's "Interior Department," where he oversaw the group's domestic activity. He shares Godane's vision for al-Shabaab's terrorist attacks in Somalia as an element of al-Qa’ida's greater global aspirations.[3]
He was named Al-Shabaab leader in September 2014, after Godane was killed by a U.S. airstrike.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Abu Ubaidah (Direye) - Wanted". Rewards for Justice. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ Goldman, David (20 June 2016). "Sheikh Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaidah Aka Ahmed Diriye; Al-Shabaab's Indifferent Takfiri Emir". Strategic Intelligence. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Terrorist Designations of Ahmed Diriye and Mahad Karate". U.S. Department of State. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "Somalia Extremist Group Names New Leader". Associated Press. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- v
- t
- e
- Saif al-Adel
- Abd al-Rahman al-Maghribi
- Ahmad Umar
- Iyad Ag Ghaly
- Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil
- Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi
- Ali Sayyid Muhamed Mustafa al-Bakri
- Ibrahim al-Banna
- Ibrahim al Qosi
- Abu Walid al-Masri
- Mohammed Showqi Al-Islambouli
- Abdukadir Mohamed Abdukadir
- Fuad Qalaf
- Jehad Mostafa
- Abu Humam al-Shami
- Sami al-Oraydi
leadership
of attacks
- 1998 United States embassy bombings
- 2000 USS Cole bombing
- 2001 September 11 attacks
- 2002 Bali bombings
- 2004 Madrid train bombings
- 2005 London bombings
- 2007 Algiers bombings
- 2008 Islamabad Danish embassy bombing
- 2008 Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing
- 2013 In Amenas hostage crisis
- 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack
- 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting
- 2015 Garissa University College attack
- 2015 Bamako hotel attack
- 2016 Ouagadougou attacks
- 2016 Grand-Bassam shootings
- 2016 Bamako attack
- 2019 Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting
- Soviet–Afghan War
- Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)
- Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)
- First Chechen War
- Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)
- Second Chechen War
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Iraq War
- Somali Civil War
- War in North-West Pakistan (drone strikes)
- Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- Syrian civil war
- Yemeni civil war (2014–present)
- Al-Shabaab (Somalia)
- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen)
- Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (North Africa)
- Egyptian Islamic Jihad (Egypt)
- Al-Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent (Indian subcontinent)
- Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (Mali)
- Hurras al-Din (Syria)