Man living in small virginia town was somali army officer wanted for killing untold numbers of civilians

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yusuf Abdi Ali, a former Somali military officer accused of committing human rights violations during the 1980s, was deported to Somalia on Dec. 20, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced.

Ali, 71, also known as “Tukeh,” had been living in Springfield, Virginia, before being detained by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in 2022. He served as a Lieutenant Colonel and commander in the Somali National Army from May 1987 to July 1988, a period marked by widespread human rights violations, including torture, extrajudicial killings, and attacks on civilian infrastructure.

In February, a Department of Justice immigration judge ruled that Ali personally engaged in acts of torture and ordered his removal to Somalia. The judge found that Ali also directed soldiers under his command to carry out detentions, torture, and killings.

Ali was the subject of a 2019 civil lawsuit in the Eastern District of Virginia, where a jury held him liable for the torture of a Somali herder and awarded the plaintiff damages. His deportation followed a yearslong investigation by Homeland Security Investigations’ Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, which located him in the U.S. in 2020.

“Though justice was delayed in this case, it ultimately prevailed,” said Russell Hott, acting executive associate director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.

Ali’s removal underscores U.S. efforts to deny safe haven to individuals accused of serious human rights abuses.

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