File Photo Somali Times/ former Somalia spy chief Abdullahi Mohamed Ali
The former head of the Somalia National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbaloshe, has warned that deep-seated distrust continues to undermine cooperation between the country’s intelligence agency and its international partners.
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In an interview with Somali Times, Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbalolshe said that Somalia shares intelligence with foreign agencies, including the US government, but argued that this cooperation has not yet reached the level needed to address security threats in the country.
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He pointed out that the main challenge is trust. Foreign intelligence agencies, he noted, are still reluctant to share sensitive information with their Somalia counterparts, fearing information leaks, being entangled in government agencies, and the risks of close coordination of operations.
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“Information is shared to some extent, but there is no 100 percent cooperation,” Abdullahi Mohamed Ali said, noting that this issue is being handled with care. “While there are areas where cooperation is evident, such as security alerts and military operations, it has not yet reached a national level of self-sufficiency.”
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This concern is not new to the security community. For years, both the public and the government have been beset by questions about whether Al-Shabaab has infiltrated parts of the government’s security system, especially after it repeatedly targeted areas that were considered among the safest in the country.
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The most notable example came in 2019, when a female suicide bomber killed the then-mayor of Mogadishu, Abdirahman Omar Osman (Yariisow), and other officials inside his office.
Government agencies later confirmed that the woman was a local government employee, but was part of the Al-Shabab group, fueling suspicions that the armed forces were taking advantage of inside information.
Al-Shabab has also repeatedly attacked hotels and government-affiliated facilities in the power center of Mogadishu, including hotels near the presidential palace.
In March 2025, Al-Shabab targeted a convoy carrying corrupt President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud near the presidential palace, as he was en route to Aden Adde International Airport.
Although the president survived the attack, the incident has revived long-standing fears about how the group obtains information, bypasses checkpoints, and gains access to heavily guarded areas.
However, the security situation in Somalia is not safe.