Muna Osman Jama, Hinda Osman Dhirane Guilty in Al-Shabaab Funding Case

Two women, Muna Osman Jama, 36, of Reston, Virginia, and Hinda Osman Dhirane, 46, of Kent, Washington, were found guilty today of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Following a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in Alexandria, Virginia, the verdict marks a significant blow to international terror financing networks operating within the U.S.

According to federal prosecutors, Jama and Dhirane orchestrated a sophisticated money pipeline to fund al-Shabaab’s deadly operations in Somalia and Kenya. They coordinated transfers to two key nodes: the “Hargeisa side” in Somaliland, which financed military campaigns in the Golis Mountains, and the “Nairobi side,” which funded two al-Shabaab safehouses—one used to store weapons and plot attacks, the other to treat wounded fighters.

The women also formed and led a secret international cell known as the “Group of Fifteen,” composed of women from Somalia, Kenya, Egypt, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Through a private online chatroom created by Jama, the group organized monthly donations, tracked transfers, and ensured funds reached their intended terrorist recipients.

Recorded conversations played in court exposed the defendants’ chilling allegiance. Jama and Dhirane were captured on tape laughing during the 2013 Westgate Mall massacre in Nairobi as innocent civilians were being slaughtered. In another recording, Dhirane and a co-conspirator mocked the Boston Marathon Bombing—before the perpetrators were publicly identified—revealing insider knowledge and clear complicity.

“Providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations is a very serious crime,” said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “These women funneled money to a terrorist organization conducting a violent insurgency in Somalia.” FBI Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate added that the facilitation of terror financing “equates to terrorist activity itself.”

Jama and Dhirane each face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison at sentencing, scheduled for January 19, 2017. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James P. Gillis and Danya E. Atiyeh, with support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. The FBI’s Washington and Seattle Field Offices led the investigation, underscoring the reach of domestic terror networks across state lines.