Security forces
National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA)
The National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA, in Somali Hay'adda Sirdoonka iyo Nabadsugidda Qaranka) is the federal government's intelligence service. It was set up in January 2013 and has several thousand staff, including the special units Gaashaan and Waran. Its budget and staff numbers are classified. It has been at the centre of political disputes, notably over the 2021 disappearance of its employee Ikran Tahlil Farah, and press freedom groups have documented its detention of journalists.
In short
NISA gathers intelligence, runs counter-terrorism operations against al-Shabaab and guards key sites in Mogadishu. It works alongside the Somali National Army and the Somali Police Force. This page records what it is and what has been reported about it.
Founding
NISA was established in January 2013 by the new Federal Government, replacing the National Security Service of the military era, which had ceased to function around 1990 (Wikipedia, National Intelligence and Security Agency, citing Walta Info, 10 January 2013). Its budget and number of employees are classified (same source). Paul D. Williams, writing for West Point's CTC Sentinel in 2024, put its strength at "several thousand" (CTC Sentinel, April 2024).
Special units
- Gaashaan ("Shield"). Its first group, about 40 soldiers and 3 officers chosen from army special troops, was reportedly trained by US Army Special Forces in 2009–2010; a second group was trained at Mogadishu airport in 2011 (Wikipedia, citing Voice of America and the Ottawa Citizen, July 2014).
- Waran. A special forces unit. In May 2018 NISA was reported to have about 300 in Waran and about 400 in Gaashaan (same source).
Foreign support
A former minister said the CIA trained NISA officials in its early years, and the UAE gave vehicles and equipment in April 2014 (Wikipedia, citing AFP and The National).
Directors
Directors named in the sources include Abdullahi Mohamed Ali "Sanbaloolshe" (reappointed April 2017), Fahad Yasin, Yasin Abdullahi (from September 2021) and Mahad Mohamed Salad (Wikipedia).
The Ikran Tahlil case, 2021
Ikran Tahlil Farah, 24, worked in NISA's cybersecurity department. She was abducted on 26 June 2021 near her home in Mogadishu's Abdulaziz district, close to the agency's headquarters. On 2 September 2021 NISA said its investigation found she had been handed to al-Shabaab, which killed her. Al-Shabaab denied any part in it. Her mother said she did not believe the agency's account (Voice of America, 2 September 2021).
A former NISA director told VOA that she may have held records about a programme that sent Somali recruits to Eritrea for training (same source). Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble suspended NISA's director Fahad Yasin; President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed overruled him and appointed Yasin national security adviser. The dispute deepened the split between the two leaders in September 2021 (Wikipedia, citing Reuters, 6 September 2021).
What rights groups and researchers report
- The Somali Journalists Syndicate has recorded detentions of and raids on journalists by NISA officers from 2020 to 2025 (Wikipedia, citing SJS).
- The US State Department's 2020 human rights report and Amnesty International's 2020 report also describe arbitrary detention by security services (same source).
- The scholar Mohamed Haji Ingiriis has argued that a security system designed from outside shaped NISA and weakened it against al-Shabaab (same source, citing African Security Review, 2020).
Read the primary sources yourself
Sources
- Wikipedia, National Intelligence and Security Agency · en.wikipedia.org
- CTC Sentinel, April 2024 · ctc.westpoint.edu
- Voice of America, 2 September 2021 · voanews.com
- report · state.gov
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