Leaked intel reveals secret negotiations between President Hassan Sheikh and Al-Shabaab, raising alarms in Puntland, Jubaland — and beyond.
Secret pact between Somalia’s president and terror group Al-Shabaab risks unraveling regional order as insiders confirm exchange of power, territory, and intelligence — all under Qatari-tinged backchannels.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is accused of finalizing a covert agreement with Al-Shabaab, brokered by wealthy Hawiye businessmen and laced with security, power-sharing, and financial arrangements that shatter every counterterrorism red line in place since 2007.
According to intelligence sources leaked to WARYATV, the so-called “first phase” of talks has been quietly concluded. The two main items at stake: a freeze in Al-Shabaab’s military advance toward Mogadishu, and the reinstatement of key Shabaab-aligned figures inside Somalia’s government — particularly Mahad Salaad as head of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA).
And that’s just the surface.
Hassan Sheikh reportedly requested a temporary halt to Shabaab’s offensive, and demanded the militants not obstruct federal troops deploying to Gedo for a future strike on Kismayo. Al-Shabaab agreed — but demanded a slice of the spoils:
Control over Xarardheere
A guaranteed revenue cut from Kismayo if Mogadishu takes it
Permanent reinstatement of their allies in NISA
And most explosively — the continued payment of “zakat” by Mogadishu’s top business elite, effectively legalizing terror financing under a religious veil.
These developments coincide with the sudden delayed dismissal of Sanbaloolshe, the current NISA chief, who’s reportedly headed to Iraq to ink a suspicious “security pact.” Sources suggest he’s being eased out to make way for Mahad Salaad — a known sympathizer of Islamist circles and someone long considered Al-Shabaab’s preferred man in Mogadishu’s corridors of power.
Mahad “Karate”, a globally sanctioned Shabaab kingpin, is said to be negotiating directly on behalf of the terror group. This is not a misunderstanding or misinterpretation — it is a de facto normalization of Al-Shabaab’s political role inside Villa Somalia.
The consequences are seismic.
If the agreement holds, Al-Shabaab’s war machine will pivot — not toward the federal government — but against Jubaland and Puntland, regions that have resisted Hassan Sheikh’s political monopoly. The risk? A new internal war fought not between federal states and terrorists — but between federal states and a terror-empowered presidency.
While Puntland and Jubaland are reportedly preparing defensive realignments, Somaliland is unlikely to be drawn into the chaos. Sources close to regional intelligence confirm that Somaliland maintains covert counterterrorism capabilities that Al-Shabaab “fears and respects.” In short: Hargeisa is watching, but not flinching.
What’s unfolding is not diplomacy — it’s betrayal. The Somali public, international partners, and frontline regions must now decide: Is this peace, or is this a handover of the republic to its enemies?
Somalia is not just at a crossroads — it may already be on the road to surrender.
