President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud faced criticism after comments suggesting that members of Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab should be eligible to obtain national identity cards remarks that security analysts say risk revealing sensitive counterterrorism methods.
Mohamud said citizenship rights extend to all Somalis, including militants, prompting backlash from opposition figures and security commentators. His comments followed months of government efforts to expand enrollment in the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) system.
The Daily Somalia has learned that cooperation between Somalia and Pakistan, particularly between Somalia’s NIRA and Pakistan’s NADRA, is based on shared expertise.
Pakistan’s intelligence agency is believed to hold some of the most detailed files on Al‑Qaeda, with Al‑Shabaab seen as one of its most active branches. This cooperation has helped track militants, identify networks, and monitor movements.
Amid some security officials viewed the ID system as a tool to track suspected Al-Shabaab operatives by mapping identities, movements and potential networks.
The Somali government has not publicly detailed the full scope of its cooperation with foreign partners. The United States, World Bank and other international donors have supported Somalia’s push to modernise citizen registration, but officials typically refrain from discussing operational uses of the system.
Security analysts said President Hassan Mohamud’s remarks could prompt militants to avoid registering for IDs, potentially complicating intelligence-gathering. Critics accused the president of undermining counterterrorism efforts and exposing strategies that authorities had previously treated as confidential.
