Mahad Karate (Abdirahman Mohamed Warsame)

In short

Mahad Karate is one of the most senior figures in al-Shabaab, named by the US as its deputy to the emir Ahmed Diriye. This page records his public role from government and research sources, without taking sides. How the movement is organised is described in Al-Shabaab: how it is organised, and who has led it.

Background

The US Rewards for Justice programme gives his birth as between 1957 and 1962 in Harardhere, and lists his aliases as Mahad Mohamed Ali Karate, Mahad Warsame Qalley Karate and Abdirahim (or Abdirahman) Mohamed Warsame. It says he speaks Somali, Arabic and some Swahili (Rewards for Justice, Mahad Karate). Wikipedia records that he served in the intelligence service of the military government before 1991 and was in al-Itihaad al-Islamiya from 1991 to 1997 (Wikipedia, Mahad Karate, citing the Counter Extremism Project and BBC Somali).

Role in al-Shabaab

Wikipedia records that he worked in al-Shabaab's security and finance units before becoming deputy to Ahmed Diriye, who was named emir in 2014 (Wikipedia). Rewards for Justice describes him as al-Shabaab's "shadow deputy leader", with command responsibility over the Amniyat and the movement's finances, and says the Amniyat carries out suicide attacks and assassinations in Somalia, Kenya and nearby countries (Rewards for Justice).

Attacks attributed to the Amniyat

Rewards for Justice holds the Amniyat responsible for the attack on Garissa University College in Kenya on 2 April 2015, which killed nearly 150 people, most of them students (Rewards for Justice). Wikipedia, citing the Associated Press and CNN, records that the January 2016 attack on a Kenyan army base at El Adde was also carried out under his leadership (Wikipedia).

Designations and rewards

• 10 April 2015. The US State Department designated him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (Rewards for Justice).
• November 2015. The US offered up to US$5 million for information on him (Wikipedia, citing Reuters).
• 26 February 2021. The UN Security Council added him to its sanctions list (Wikipedia).
• November 2022. The US raised its reward to up to US$10 million each for Ahmed Diriye, Mahad Karate and Jehad Mostafa (Voice of America editorial, 2022; Rewards for Justice).

Reported death and later appearances

In February 2016 media reported that he had been killed in a Kenyan air strike; al-Shabaab denied it, and a Somali intelligence source doubted the report. He gave an interview to Channel 4 News in May 2022 and was photographed at an al-Shabaab ceremony in January 2024. Wikipedia, citing The EastAfrican and Hiiraan Online, records reports of clashes in 2023 between factions loyal to him and to Diriye in Middle Juba (Wikipedia).

Sources differ

• His name. Rewards for Justice spells his birth name both Abdirahman and Abdirahim.
• His title. The US calls him deputy leader; al-Shabaab does not publish its command structure.
• Internal rivalry. Some reports in 2023 described a split with Diriye; al-Shabaab has made no public statement on it.

Read the primary sources yourself

• US Rewards for Justice, "Mahad Karate": page.