MOGADISHU (SD) – A report released this week by the UN sanctions monitoring group, based on intelligence from UN member states, states that there is strong confidence that the leader of ISIS is Abdulkadir Mumin, who also heads the terrorist group’s Somali branch.

The number of countries that believe they have identified the leader overseeing ISIS’s global operations is increasing, according to VOA.

The report indicates that Muumin’s role in ISIS’s international operations has never been in doubt. Previous UN intelligence reports suggested he was promoted to lead the General Directorate of Provinces for the Islamic State, allowing him to control the group’s branches in Africa.

This assessment is gaining strength, with more UN member states agreeing that ISIS is adapting to realities in Iraq and Syria, making it necessary to relocate key officials to other regions.

The report notes that since the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and his successor in 2022, the group has tried to conceal the identities of its leaders by reducing their public appearances.

Furthermore, the latest UN report states that since those attacks, Muumin has taken measures to reduce external attention on the group.

According to the report, intelligence suggests that Mumin’s operational base is in Buur Dhehad, a network of fortified caves and structures in the Cal Miskaad mountains of the Golis range, believed to be designed to withstand Western airstrikes.