Three Ugandans ,Abubukar Swalleh and Hamidah Nabbaggala implicated as key figures in ISIS FACILITATION NETWORK OPERATING ACROSS AFRICA

 

These sanctions followed a meeting of the Counter ISIS Finance Group (CIFG), an international coalition focused on disrupting the financial networks of ISIS.

The US Treasury labelled the three as ‘key financiers and trusted operatives’ who support ISIS operations across Central, Eastern and Southern Africa.

They are said to be crucial links between various ISIS operations, including those in the DRC, Mozambique, Somalia and South Africa.

This action builds on earlier investigations by CIFG into South African links to ISIS.

In March, it was reported that South African banks were used to transfer funds from ISIS leadership in Somalia to their affiliates in central Africa.

The US Treasury has previously sanctioned individuals and companies in South Africa connected to a local ISIS cell led by Durban businessman Farhad Hoomer, who has denied the allegations.

Swalleh, originally from Uganda, is accused of physically transferring funds from South Africa to the DRC and assisting in the movement of ISIS-affiliated individuals between Uganda and South Africa.

Mohamed Ali Nkalubo, an ISIS commander in the DRC, reportedly relies on Swalleh for financial transfers and recruitment for the ISIS DRC affiliate.

Swalleh, under Nkalubo’s direction, has been involved in criminal activities such as robbery and kidnapping to fund ISIS.

This marks one of the first official confirmations of ISIS operatives in South Africa using these methods to generate funds.

Abubakar Swalleh (Swalleh) is a South Africa- and Zambia-based ISIS operative. He is involved in the physical transfer of funds from South Africa to the DRC. Additionally, Swalleh facilitates the movement of ISIS-affiliated individuals from Uganda to South Africa, and vice versa. Mohamed Ali Nkalubo, a DRC-based ISIS commander previously designated by the Department of State on December 8, 2023, relies on Swalleh to move funds and recruit members for ISIS’s DRC affiliate. Swalleh moved to South Africa under Nkalubo’s direction, where he has been involved in robberies and kidnap for ransom. Zayd Gangat (Gangat) is a South Africa-based ISIS facilitator and trainer. ISIS leaders in South Africa have historically used robbery, extortion, and kidnap for ransom operations to generate funds for the group.

DRC-based Hamidah Nabagala (Nabagala) serves as an intermediary for ISIS financial flows in central Africa. Additionally, Nabagala has been accused of funding the October 2021 Kampala bombing, which killed one and injured at least three others. In 2021, Ugandan authorities arrested an ISIS operative that had received funding from Nabagala. She also sought to smuggle her three children out of Uganda to send them to ISIS-affiliate camps in the DRC.

Swalleh, Nabagala, and Gangat are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, ISIS, a person whose property and interest in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13224.