Somalia, 30 October 2025 - Mowliid, also known as Ja’far Dheere, is from the Ogaden sub-clan of the Darood clan and was born in the Somali region of Ethiopia (Soomaali-Galbeed).
He was a close friend of Ahmed Abdi Godane, the former Al-Shabaab leader, and the two attended the same university in Pakistan.
Jafar Dheere was a founding member of Al-Shabaab. In fact the group’s initial funds, stolen from the town of Wajaale in northwestern Somalia, were brought by Dheere and Godane.
Later, Dheere joined the feared Islamic Courts Union (ICU) - the group that overran a swath of Somalia’s hinterland using deadly force. After the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia in 2006, he took part in ICU's resistance movement in Mogadishu until it was reinforced by the Al-Shabaab group, led by his friend Godane.
Afterward, Dheere became Godane's right-hand man and was appointed head of his personal security (Wiqa’i). Following Godane’s death, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Al-Shabaab Jabhat designated to operate inside Ethiopia.
On October 26, 2025, an airstrike in the Bu’ale district of Middle Juba killed Dheere while hiding in a house in the town.
