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Al-Shabaab (Somalia)
Encyclopedia
Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (HSM) ' onMouseout='HidePop("39373")' href="/topics/Mujahideen">Mujahideen
Youth Movement or "Movement of Striving Youth"), more commonly known as al-Shabaab , is a terrorist group of militants fighting to overthrow
the government of Somalia
. As of 2011, the group controls large swathes of the southern parts of Somalia, where it is said to have imposed its own strict form of Sharia
law. Al-Shabaab's troop strength as of May 2011 is estimated at 14,426 militants.
The group is an off-shoot of the Islamic Courts Union, which splintered into several smaller organizations after its removal from power by Ethiopian forces in 2006. It describes itself as waging jihad
against "enemies of Islam", and is engaged in combat against the Somali Transitional Federal Government
(TFG) and the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Al-Shabaab members, alleging ulterior motives on the part of foreign organizations, have also reportedly intimidated, kidnapped and killed aid workers, leading to a suspension of humanitarian operations and an exodus of relief agents. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments and security services. It has also been described in The New Yorker
as having "ties to Al Qaeda," which its leaders denied until early 2010.
In early August 2011, the TFG's troops and their AMISOM allies reportedly managed to capture all of Mogadishu from the Al-Shabaab militants. An ideological rift within Al-Shabaab's leadership also emerged in response to pressure from the recent drought and the assassination of top officials in the organization. Al Shabaab has often clashed with the militant Sufi group Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a
.
, also known as Ibrahim "al-Afghani". It was originally run by Aden Hashi Farah "Ayro"
, who was appointed by Hassan Dahir Aweys, one of the leaders of ICU at the time of the organization's founding. After the death of Ayro, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (also known as Abu Mansur) became leader until he was succeeded by Moktar Ali Zubeyr "Godane"
.
Other leaders:
and international jihadists were called to join the holy war against the Somali government and its Ethiopian allies. Though Somali Islamists did not originally use suicide bombing tactics, the foreign elements of Al-Shabaab are blamed for several suicide bombings. A 2006 UN report identified Iran
, Libya
and Egypt
, among others in the larger region, as the main backers of the Islamist extremists. Egypt has a longstanding policy of securing the Nile River flow by destabilizing Ethiopia.
Formally a predominantly nationalist organization, Al Shabaab has repositioned itself as a militant Islamist group that also attracts a large cadre of Western devotees. The outfit's foreign recruitment strategy has been active in the United States, where members have attempted to recruit from the local Muslim community. According to an investigative report from the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, Al Shabaab has recruited over 40 Muslim Americans since 2007. These American and foreign recruits play a dual role within the organization as mercenaries and as a propaganda tool for radicalization and recruitment. These recruited individuals, like Omar Hammami, appear in propaganda videos posted in online forums in order to appeal to disaffected Muslim youth and inspire them to join the Islamist struggle. This radicalization and recruitment effort is a top-down strategy, wherein Islamist agents attempt to use mosques and legitimate businesses as a cover to meet, recruit, and raise funds for operations in the US and abroad.
Most of the foreign Al-Shabaab members come from Yemen
, Sudan
, the Swahili Coast
, Afghanistan
, Saudi Arabia
, Pakistan
and Bangladesh
. As of 2010, they are estimated at between 200 to 300 operatives, augmented by around 1,000 diasporan ethnic Somalis. Many of Al-Shabaab's foot soldiers also belong to Somalia's marginalized ethnic minorities from the farming south.
Foreigners from Afghanistan and Iraq
as well as Afghan-trained Somalis play an important role in the group's leadership ranks due to their combat experience. Bringing with them specialized skills, these commanders often spearhead the indoctrination of new recruits, providing training in remote-controlled roadside bombings, suicide attack techniques, assassinations and kidnappings of government officials, journalists, humanitarian and civil society workers.
Foreign al-Shabaab commanders include:
Foreign leaders:
One who was not mentioned but reported by the Long War Journal
is
Canada,
Norway,
Sweden,
the United Kingdom, and
the United States.
Their core comprised veterans who fought and defeated the secular Mogadishu warlords of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism
(ARPCT) at the Second Battle of Mogadishu
. Their origins are not clearly known, but former members say Hizbul Shabaab was founded as early as 2004. Al-Shabaab also has various foreign fighters from around the world, according to an Islamic hardliner Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Manssor.
As of January 2009, Ethiopian forces have withdrawn from Somalia and Al-Shabaab carries on its fight against former ally and Islamic Courts Union leader, President Sharif Ahmed
, who heads the Transitional Federal Government
. Al-Shabaab has had success in its campaigns against the weak Transitional Federal Government, capturing Baidoa, the base of the Transitional Federal Parliament, on January 26, 2009, and killing three ministers of the government in a December 3, 2009 suicide bomb attack on a medical school graduation ceremony.
On the other hand, in the areas it controls, Al-Shabaab has reduced over-sized cheap food imports. This has allowed Somalia's own grain production, which normally has high potential, to flourish. This had the effect of shifting income from urban to rural areas, from mid-income groups to low-income groups, and from overseas farmers to local farmers. The policy worked remarkably well until drought hampered local food production increasingly since 2010. In response, Al-Shabaab announced in July 2011 that it had withdrawn its restrictions on international humanitarian workers.
law. According to journalist Jon Lee Anderson
:
Anderson also reports that enforcement of law against adultery or zina
includes execution. In 2008,
However scholar Bronwyn Bruton states that Al-Shabaab has many factions and "has stirred only a few hundred true fanatics."
According to Bruton, al-Shabaab "is not a transnational terrorist organization" although most would contend this argument. Sipus's research has shown that this organization maintains an appeal among Somalis not because their affinity for the organization, but rather for economic and social interests. Not only does al-Shabaab provide financial incentives for support, but by "promoting the vision of the ummah, a unified Islamic state under shari’a law, al-Shabaab attracts both popular support and scathing criticism among Somali people within and outside the country."
Shabaab have persecuted Somalia's small Christian minority
, sometimes affixing the label on people they suspect of working for Ethiopian intelligence
. The group has also desecrated the graves of prominent Sufi Muslim
s in addition to a Sufi mosque
and university, claiming that Sufi practices conflict with their strict interpretation of Islamic law
. This has led to confrontations with Sufi organized armed groups who have organized under the banner of Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a
.
Echoing the transition from a nationalistic struggle to one with religious pretenses, Al Shabaab’s propaganda strategy is starting to reflect this shift. Through their religious rhetoric Al Shabaab attempts to recruit and radicalize potential candidates, demoralize their enemies, and dominate dialogue in both national and international media. According to reports Al Shabaab is trying to intensify the conflict: "It would appear from the alleged AMISOM killings that it is determined to portray the war as an affair between Christians and Muslims to shore up support for its fledgling cause... The bodies, some beheaded, were displayed alongside Bibles and crucifixes. The group usually beheads those who have embraced Christianity or Western ideals.
militants have begun placing beheaded corpses next to bibles and crucifixes in order to intimidate local populations.” In April of 2010 Al Shabaab announced that it would begin banning radio stations from broadcasting BBC and Voice of America, claiming that they were spreading Christian propaganda. By effectively shutting down the Somali media they gain greater control of the dialog surrounding their activities.
Al-Shabaab achieved a military victory in the August 2008 Battle of Kismayo
. After several days of fighting in which scores of deaths were reported, Al-Shabaab fighters defeated the militia of Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale
and took control of the port city. Kismayo had been held by the TFG since January 2007. The fighting in Kismayo is reported to have displaced an estimated 35,000 people. After the withdrawal of Hiiraale's fighters, Al-Shabaab commenced a peaceful disarmament process targeting local armed groups that had been contributing to insecurity in Kismayo. The group has been blamed or claimed responsibility for, among other attacks, the February 2008 Bosaso bombings and the 2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings
. By late 2008, it was estimated that the group controlled the whole of southern Somalia, except for some pockets of Mogadishu. This was more territory than that controlled by the Islamic Courts Union at the height of their power.
In December 2008, Anwar al-Awlaki
sent a communique to Al-Shabaab, congratulating them. He thanked them for "giving us a living example of how we as Muslims should proceed to change our situation. The ballot has failed us, but the bullet has not". In conclusion, he wrote: "if my circumstances would have allowed, I would not have hesitated in joining you and being a soldier in your ranks".
to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government. One such high profile defection was that in early November 2009 of Sheikh Mohamed Abdullahi (also known as "Sheikh Bakistani"), who commanded the Maymana Brigade. Sheikh Bakistani told Voice of America
(VOA) Somali Services that he found the group's suicide missions and executions unbearable. He also indicated that his father, a well-known local religious leader, had visited him several times and helped convince him to defect. However, a spokesman for Al-Shabaab denied that Sheikh Bakistani was a member of the group. During the same month, in an interview with Agence France-Presse
(AFP) in Villa Somalia
arranged by the Somali federal government, one former Al-Shabaab fighter reported being disillusioned with the group's direction, indicating that while he began fighting in 2006 "to kick out the Ethiopian invaders", he defected a month ago, "disgusted by the false interpretations Al-Shabaab give of Islam
". Similarly, a former Hizbul Islam commander recently defected to the Somali government; one of his family members (another Hizbul Islam commander) had been murdered by Al-Shabaab militants as punishment for having escorted a UN convoy. He said in the VOA interview that "if you don't want to fight anymore, there's no point. That's why I quit".
In early December 2009, Sheikh Ali Hassan Gheddi, who at the time served as Deputy Commander in-Chief of Al-Shabaab militants in the Middle Shabele
region, also defected to the government, indicating that "Al-Shabaab's cruelty against the people is what forced me to defect to the government side. They extort money from the people and deal with them against the teaching of Islam". Another reason he gave for defecting was Al-Shabaab's recent prohibition on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) because he felt that it directly affects civilians.
With monies from extortion dwindling in areas like Mogadishu, defections in the face of AMISOM forces, among other internal issues, Al Shabaab is turning to other militant Islamic groups for support. Al Shabaab has declared their support in order to bolster their numbers and has made a number of strategic operational ties to both Al Qaeda and AQAP in Yemen. In some cases Al Shabaab has begun flying the Al Qeada-Iraq banner at some of its rallies in order to demonstrate solidarity with the group. There are signs that Al Shabaab militants are learning from Al Qaeda’s propaganda methods. “Shabaab’s propaganda has increasingly been slicked up to resemble messages produced by Al Qaeda’s “As-Sahab” (“The Clouds”) media wing and AQAP’s “Inspire” magazine, including the release of rap songs by Omar Hammami.” It is unclear how the death of AQAP leader Anwar al-Aulaqi and others has affected this bourgeoning relationship between the two. As is evident by their merger with Hizb-ul-Islam in December 2010, Al Shabaab is turning to former rivals for assistance as their numbers decrease due to defections and casualties directly resulting from battles with AMISOM forces.
Al Shabaab uses various mediums in order to proliferate their propaganda. Besides traditional radio, the internet is the most heavily utilized by Al Shabaab and other militant Islamic groups such Al Qaeda because it is the easiest and most cost-effective way to reach a large audience. As the internet is especially popular with today's youth, organizations such as Al Shabaab are using online forums and chat rooms in order to recruit young followers to their cause. Al Shabaab's official website, which has since been taken-down, featured posts, videos and official statements in English, Arabic and Somali, as well as online classrooms to educate followers.
Prior to its expulsion from Mogadishu in mid-2011, Al-Shabaab had also launched the Al-Kataib propaganda television station the year before. The channel's pilot program aired the confessions of Ahmed Kisi, an alleged CIA spy, who had been executed earlier in the week.
In addition, Al-Shabaab is also using music to influence and appeal to their young followers. According to Robin Wright, "by 2010, almost eight out of every ten soldiers in Somalia's many rebel forces were children", which are especially influenced and susceptible messages conveyed to modern, western-themed music. One of Al Shabaab’s foreign-born leaders, American Omar Hammami aka Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki
, gained notoriety after an April 2009 video of him rapping about jihad. Hammami's most recent song, "Send Me a Cruise", debuted online on April 9, 2011.
strategy to accommodate the changing circumstances. In some cases, group members employed humanitarian aid as a recruitment tool, using relief supplies as bribes and as an incentive to join the militants, whose numbers had decreased due to casualties and defections. Group members dismissed the UN declaration of famine in various regions as grossly exaggerated and banned various organizations from providing aid to those regions.
In response, the Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Mohamed Ali
in July 2011 appointed a national committee to tackle the severe drought affecting the southern part of the country, and the following month announced the creation of a new 300-man security force. Assisted by African Union peacekeepers, the military unit had as its primary goal to protect convoys and aid from the Al-Shabaab rebels, as well as to secure the IDP camps when the relief supplies are being distributed.
Although fighting disrupted aid delivery in some areas, a scaling up of relief operations in mid-November prompted the UN to downgrade the humanitarian situation in several regions from famine to emergency levels. Humanitarian access to Al-Shabaab-controlled areas had also improved and rainfall had surpassed expectations, improving the prospects of a good harvest in early 2012.
between the Somalian National Army
(SNA) and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) against Al-Shabaab militants in southern Somalia began, Al Shabaab has been intensifying its propaganda effort – a signal perhaps that militant forces is growing desperate as it suffers heavy losses. Group members have started to diversify their tactics, engaging in various methods in order to demoralize the allied forces. According to the Associated Press, Al Shabaab has resorted to dressing up some of its own casualties in TFG and AU uniforms, although an African Union spokesman indicated that only two corpses of AU soldiers were unaccounted for. About half of the dead bodies were also visibly Somali, prompting eye-witnesses to suggest that they were fallen Somali government soldiers. The remainder were dressed in Burundi military uniforms and resembled non-Somali foreigners, with Al-Shabaab militants displaying a Bible and some crucifixes reportedly taken from the deceased. Additionally, Al Shabaab has been conducting militia parades as a show of force in cities such as Marka.
As Al Shabaab is suffering heavy military losses, the effectiveness of their propaganda campaign to date is somewhat inconclusive. What is apparent, however, is that they are increasing their propaganda efforts without corresponding response from TFG, AMISOM and KDF forces. Al Shabaab retreats from regions in southern Somalia and areas around Mogadishu are falsely heralded as tactical maneuvers by the militants who are facing defeat - while the allied forces remain largely muted on the success that they have made in the region.
The propaganda techniques employed by Al Shabaab show the stark contrast between militant forces and the conventional armies of AMISOM. While Shabaab forces act with impunity in regards to their guerrilla tactics, the allied forces are obligated to comply with articles of the Geneva Convention which require them to warn civilians of air raids and troop movements – often times informing the very militants they intend to strike and leaving them unable to act when they observe flagrant militant activities. According to Al-Jazeera, Al-Shabaab have also attempted to capitalize on the coordinated incursion by depicting itself as a resistance force fighting foreign occupiers and urged local residents to take up arms against the Kenyan soldiers.
In December 2009, the United Nations Security Council
imposed sanctions on Eritrea
, accusing the Horn of Africa
country of arming and providing financial aid to militia groups in southern Somalia's conflict zones, including Al-Shabaab. Plane loads of weapons said to be coming from Eritrea were sent to anti-government rebels in southern Somalia. AU peacekeepers also reportedly captured some Eritrean soldiers and prisoners of war. In 2010, the UN International Monitoring Group (IMG) also published a report charging the Eritrean government of continuing to offer support to rebel groups in southern Somalia, despite the sanctions already placed on the nation. The Eritrean administration emphatically denied the accusations, describing them as "concocted, baseless and unfounded" and demanding concrete evidence to be made publicly available, with an independent platform through which it may in turn issue a response. In November 2011 the UN Monitoring Group repeated claims that Eritrea would support al-Shabaab. The report says that Eritrea gives each month to al-Shabaab linked individuals in Nairobi.
In 2010, reports surfaced linking the secessionist government of the northwestern Somaliland
region with the Islamist extremists that are currently waging war against the Transitional Federal Government and its African Union allies. The International Strategic Studies Association
(ISSA) published several reports shortly after the 2010 presidential elections in Somaliland, accusing the enclave's newly-elected president Ahmed M. Mahamoud Silanyo
of having strong ties with Islamist groups, and suggesting that his political party Kulmiye
won the election in large part due to support from a broad-based network of Islamists, including Al-Shabaab. The ISSA also described Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gaboose, Somaliland's new Interior Minister, as an Islamist with "strong personal connections with al-Shabaab", and predicted that the militant group would consequently be empowered.
In January 2011, Puntland
accused Somaliland
of providing a safe haven for Mohamed Said Atom
, an arms smuggler believed to be allied with al-Shabaab. Somaliland strenuously denied the charges, calling them a smokescreen to divert attention from Puntland's own activities.
Atom and his men were reportedly hiding out and receiving medical attention in Somaliland after being pursued by Puntland forces
in late 2010. The Puntland Intelligence Agency
also claimed that over 70 Somaliland soldiers had fought alongside Atom's militiamen, including one known intelligence official who died in battle. Somaliland media reported in January that Atom's representative requested military assistance from the Somaliland authorities, and that he denied that Atom's militia was linked to al-Shabaab.
Puntland government documents claim that Atom's militia were used as proxy agents in 2006. They accuse Somaliland of offering financial and military assistance to destabilize Puntland and distract attention from attempts to occupy the disputed Sool
province.
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
Youth Movement or "Movement of Striving Youth"), more commonly known as al-Shabaab , is a terrorist group of militants fighting to overthrow
War in Somalia (2009–)
The 2009–present phase of the Somali Civil War is concentrated in southern Somalia. It began in early February 2009, with the conflict between, on the one hand, the forces of the Somali Transitional Federal Government assisted by African Union peacekeeping troops, and on the other, various militant...
the government of Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
. As of 2011, the group controls large swathes of the southern parts of Somalia, where it is said to have imposed its own strict form of Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law. Al-Shabaab's troop strength as of May 2011 is estimated at 14,426 militants.
The group is an off-shoot of the Islamic Courts Union, which splintered into several smaller organizations after its removal from power by Ethiopian forces in 2006. It describes itself as waging jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
against "enemies of Islam", and is engaged in combat against the Somali Transitional Federal Government
Transitional Federal Government
The Transitional Federal Government is the current internationally recognized government of the Republic of Somalia. It was established as one of the Transitional Federal Institutions of government as defined in the Transitional Federal Charter adopted in November 2004 by the Transitional...
(TFG) and the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Al-Shabaab members, alleging ulterior motives on the part of foreign organizations, have also reportedly intimidated, kidnapped and killed aid workers, leading to a suspension of humanitarian operations and an exodus of relief agents. The group has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments and security services. It has also been described in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
as having "ties to Al Qaeda," which its leaders denied until early 2010.
In early August 2011, the TFG's troops and their AMISOM allies reportedly managed to capture all of Mogadishu from the Al-Shabaab militants. An ideological rift within Al-Shabaab's leadership also emerged in response to pressure from the recent drought and the assassination of top officials in the organization. Al Shabaab has often clashed with the militant Sufi group Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a
Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a
Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a or ASWJ is a Somali paramilitary group consisting of moderate Sufis opposed to the radical islamist group Al-Shabaab. They are fighting to prevent strict sharia and Wahhabism from being imposed on Somalia and protecting the country's Sunni-Sufi traditions and generally...
.
Name
Al-Shabaab is also known as Ash-Shabaab, Hizbul Shabaab (Arabic, "The Party of Youth"), and the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations (PRM). For short, the group is referred to as HSM, standing for Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen. The term Shabaab means "youth" in Arabic, and the organization should not be confused with similarly named groups.Organization and leadership
Al-Shabaab's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aadIbrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad
Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad also known as Ibrahim "al-Afghani" hails from the Sacad Muse sub-clan of Isaaq. He was the first deputy leader of Al-Shabaab and in charge of finance, and is the current Emir of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, an insurgent group fighting Somalia's Transitional Federal...
, also known as Ibrahim "al-Afghani". It was originally run by Aden Hashi Farah "Ayro"
Aden Hashi Farah
Aden Hashi Farah "Ayrow" was a leader of the Hizbul Shabaab, the armed wing of the Somali Islamic Courts Union . He was from the Ayr sub-clan, part of the Habar Gidir, which is a branch of the Hawiye clan. He was reportedly married to Halima Abdi Issa Yusuf. He was among several militants killed...
, who was appointed by Hassan Dahir Aweys, one of the leaders of ICU at the time of the organization's founding. After the death of Ayro, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (also known as Abu Mansur) became leader until he was succeeded by Moktar Ali Zubeyr "Godane"
Moktar Ali Zubeyr
Sheikh Moktar Ali Zubeyr also known as Muktar Abdirahman "Godane", Ahmad Abdi Godane, Ahmad Abdi Aw Muhammad, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr and Muqtar Abdurahman Abu Zubeyr, was the Emir of Harakat Al-Shabab Mujahideen, which currently is the most prominent insurgent group in Somalia...
.
Leaders
Amir- Sheikh Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow"Aden Hashi FarahAden Hashi Farah "Ayrow" was a leader of the Hizbul Shabaab, the armed wing of the Somali Islamic Courts Union . He was from the Ayr sub-clan, part of the Habar Gidir, which is a branch of the Hawiye clan. He was reportedly married to Halima Abdi Issa Yusuf. He was among several militants killed...
(2002–2008) — central HawiyeHawiyeThe Hawiye is a Somali clan. Members of the clan primarily live in central and southern Somalia, in the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province , and in smaller numbers in other countries. Like many Somalis, Hawiye members trace their ancestry to Irir Samaale...
clan - Sheikh Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansoor" (2008–2009) — He was referred to as The Speaker, not Amir. Leesaan sub-clan of southern RahanweynRahanweynThe Rahanweyn is a Somali clan, composed of two major sub-clans, the Digil and the Mirifle. It makes up about 17% of the population of Somalia, and is one of the five major Somali clans residing in the Horn of Africa.-Overview:The Digil sub-clan mainly consists of farmers and coastal people, while...
clan - SheikhSheikhNot to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
Moktar Ali Zubeyr "Godane"Moktar Ali ZubeyrSheikh Moktar Ali Zubeyr also known as Muktar Abdirahman "Godane", Ahmad Abdi Godane, Ahmad Abdi Aw Muhammad, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr and Muqtar Abdurahman Abu Zubeyr, was the Emir of Harakat Al-Shabab Mujahideen, which currently is the most prominent insurgent group in Somalia...
(2009–2010) — Arab sub-clan of northern IsaaqIsaaqThe Isaaq is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of five major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq...
clan - Sheikh Ibrahim "al-Afghani"Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aadIbrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad also known as Ibrahim "al-Afghani" hails from the Sacad Muse sub-clan of Isaaq. He was the first deputy leader of Al-Shabaab and in charge of finance, and is the current Emir of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, an insurgent group fighting Somalia's Transitional Federal...
(2010-) — Sacad Muse sub-clan of IsaaqIsaaqThe Isaaq is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of five major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq...
clan
Other leaders:
- Sheikh Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansoor" — Second Deputy Leader and regional commander in charge of Bay and Bakool. (Leesaan sub-clan of RahanweynRahanweynThe Rahanweyn is a Somali clan, composed of two major sub-clans, the Digil and the Mirifle. It makes up about 17% of the population of Somalia, and is one of the five major Somali clans residing in the Horn of Africa.-Overview:The Digil sub-clan mainly consists of farmers and coastal people, while...
) - Sheikh Fuad Mohammed Khalaf "Shangole" — Third most important leader after "Godane" and "Abu Mansoor". In charge of public affairs. (Awrtabe sub-clan of DarodDarodThe Darod is a Somali clan. The father of this clan is named Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, but is more commonly known as Darod. In the Somali language, the word Daarood means "an enclosed compound," a conflation of the two words daar and ood .The Darod population in Somalia lives principally...
) - Hassan Dahir Aweys - Spiritual Leader
- Sheikh Hussein Ali Fidow — Political Chief
- Sheikh Ali Mohamud Raghe "Dheere" — He is from HawiyeHawiyeThe Hawiye is a Somali clan. Members of the clan primarily live in central and southern Somalia, in the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province , and in smaller numbers in other countries. Like many Somalis, Hawiye members trace their ancestry to Irir Samaale...
Murusade clan. Official Spokesman. (Not to be confused with the Sheikh Ali Dhere who established the first Islamic court in Mogadishu in 1996.) - Sheikh Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad "al-Afghani"Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aadIbrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad also known as Ibrahim "al-Afghani" hails from the Sacad Muse sub-clan of Isaaq. He was the first deputy leader of Al-Shabaab and in charge of finance, and is the current Emir of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, an insurgent group fighting Somalia's Transitional Federal...
(Abubakar al-Seyli'i) — First Deputy Leader and Governor of the Kisimayo administration (Sacad Muse sub-clan of IsaaqIsaaqThe Isaaq is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of five major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq...
) - Sheikh Hassan Yaqub Ali — Official spokesman of the Kisimayo administration (Sacad Muse sub-clan of IsaaqIsaaqThe Isaaq is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of five major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq...
) - Sheik Ali Mohamed Hussein — Leader (Governor) of BanaadirBanaadirBanaadir is a region in southeastern Somalia.-Overview:The Somali term Banaadir derives from the original Persian word بندر bandar, meaning "port" or "harbour"...
region (MogadishuMogadishuMogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
) - Sheikh Abdirahman Hassan Hussein — Leader (Governor) of the Middle Shabelle region
- Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi "al-Turki"Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-TurkiSheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki , also known as Hassan Al-Turki, or "Al-Turki"–"The Turk", is a Somali Islamist and military leader in the Islamic Courts Union and previously Al-Itihaad al-Islamiya.-Biography:...
— Leader of the Ras Kamboni BrigadesRas Kamboni BrigadesThe Ras Kamboni Brigades also known as the Ras Kamboni Brigade, Muaskar Ras Kamboni or Mu'askar Ras Kamboni was an Islamist insurgent group active in Somalia , which took part in the anti-Ethiopian insurgency and later in the insurgency against the new Transitional Federal Government of Sheikh...
which controls the Juba Valley and was first part of Hizbul Islam but merged with al-Shabaab in 2010. (Ogaden sub-clan of DarodDarodThe Darod is a Somali clan. The father of this clan is named Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, but is more commonly known as Darod. In the Somali language, the word Daarood means "an enclosed compound," a conflation of the two words daar and ood .The Darod population in Somalia lives principally...
) - Sheikh Mohamed Said AtomMohamed Said AtomMohamed Said Atom , alternatively Sheikh Mohamed Said Atom, is a Somali arms-smuggler, warlord and Al-Shabaab commander.-Al-Shabaab operative:...
- WarlordWarlordA warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
and Arms Dealer who in July 2010 announced allegiance to al-Shabaab and the al-Shabaab commander in PuntlandPuntlandPuntland , officially the Puntland State of Somalia , is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998....
. - Mukhtar Abu-Muslim, the head of Fatwas, from Darod clan of Ogaden sub-clan.
- Abdulahi Haji "Daud", the head of assassinations, from Hawiye clan of Murursade sub-clan.
- Sahal Isku Dhuuq, the head of kidnappings of aid workers for ransom, from Dir clan of Biyomaal sub-clan.
- Hassan Afrah, the head of relationship with pirates, from Hawiye clan of Saleban sub-clan.
- Dahir Gamaey "Abdi Al-Haq", the judge of Al-Shabaab, from Hawiye clan of Duduble sub-clan.
Foreigners
Al-Shabaab is said to have many foreigners within its ranks, particularly at its leadership. Fighters from the Persian GulfPersian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
and international jihadists were called to join the holy war against the Somali government and its Ethiopian allies. Though Somali Islamists did not originally use suicide bombing tactics, the foreign elements of Al-Shabaab are blamed for several suicide bombings. A 2006 UN report identified Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, among others in the larger region, as the main backers of the Islamist extremists. Egypt has a longstanding policy of securing the Nile River flow by destabilizing Ethiopia.
Formally a predominantly nationalist organization, Al Shabaab has repositioned itself as a militant Islamist group that also attracts a large cadre of Western devotees. The outfit's foreign recruitment strategy has been active in the United States, where members have attempted to recruit from the local Muslim community. According to an investigative report from the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, Al Shabaab has recruited over 40 Muslim Americans since 2007. These American and foreign recruits play a dual role within the organization as mercenaries and as a propaganda tool for radicalization and recruitment. These recruited individuals, like Omar Hammami, appear in propaganda videos posted in online forums in order to appeal to disaffected Muslim youth and inspire them to join the Islamist struggle. This radicalization and recruitment effort is a top-down strategy, wherein Islamist agents attempt to use mosques and legitimate businesses as a cover to meet, recruit, and raise funds for operations in the US and abroad.
Most of the foreign Al-Shabaab members come from Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
, Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, the Swahili Coast
Swahili Coast
The Swahili Coast refers to the coast or coastal area of East Africa inhabited by the Swahili people, mainly Kenya, Tanzania, and north Mozambique...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. As of 2010, they are estimated at between 200 to 300 operatives, augmented by around 1,000 diasporan ethnic Somalis. Many of Al-Shabaab's foot soldiers also belong to Somalia's marginalized ethnic minorities from the farming south.
Foreigners from Afghanistan and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
as well as Afghan-trained Somalis play an important role in the group's leadership ranks due to their combat experience. Bringing with them specialized skills, these commanders often spearhead the indoctrination of new recruits, providing training in remote-controlled roadside bombings, suicide attack techniques, assassinations and kidnappings of government officials, journalists, humanitarian and civil society workers.
Foreign al-Shabaab commanders include:
Foreign leaders:
- Fazul Abdullah MohammedFazul Abdullah MohammedFazul Abdullah Mohammed was a member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa as of November 2009. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship...
: Fazul, a Kenyan national, was appointed by Osama bin Laden as al Qaeda's leader in East Africa in late 2009. Before the death of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, Fazul served as the military operations chief for al Qaeda in East Africa. Fazul was an experienced al Qaeda leader who is known to be able to move in and out of East African countries with ease. In August 2008, he slipped a police dragnet in Kenya. Fazul had been sheltering in Somalia with Shabaab and the Islamic Courts for years. Fazul was considered to be Shabaab's military leader, while *Sheikh Muktar Abdelrahman Abu Zubeyr is Shabaab's spiritual leader. He was killed on 8 June 2011. - Shaykh Muhammad Abu Fa'id: Fai'd, a Saudi citizen, serves as a top financier and a "manager" for Shabaab.
- Abu Musa MombasaAbu Musa MombasaAbu Musa Mombasa is a Pakistani member of the Somali militant paramilitary group al-Shabaab who serves as the group's chief of security and training operations.-References:...
: Mombasa, a Pakistani citizen, serves as Shabaab's chief of security and training. - Abu Mansoor Al-AmrikiAbu Mansoor Al-AmrikiOmar Shafik Hammami , known by the pseudonym Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki , is an American member of the Somali Islamist paramilitary group al-Shabaab.-Early life:...
: Amriki, whose real name is Omar Hammami, is a US citizen who converted to Islam and traveled to Somalia in 2006. Once in Somalia, he quickly rose through the ranks, and now serves as a military commander, recruiter, financier, and propagandist. Amriki appears in several Shabaab propaganda tapes. Hammami has become a primary recruiter for Al Shabaab; he has issued written statements on behalf of Al Shabaab and has appeared in the terror organization's propaganda videos and audio recordings. An indictment unsealed in August 2010 charged him with providing material support to terrorists. - Mahmud Mujajir: Mujajir, a Sudanese citizen, is Shabaab's chief of recruitment for suicide bombers.
One who was not mentioned but reported by the Long War Journal
Public Multimedia
The Long War Journal is an American news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the war on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated , a non-profit media organization established in 2007. PMI is run by Paul Hanusz and Bill Roggio...
is
- Issa Osman Issa: Issa serves as a top al Qaeda recruiter and military strategist for Shabaab. Before joining Shabaab, Issa participated in the simultaneous attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998, and has been described as a central player in the simultaneous attacks on the Paradise Hotel in Kikambala, Kenya, in 2002, and the attempt to down an Israeli airliner in Mombassa also in 2002.
Terrorist designation
Shabaab is designated as a terrorist group by Australia,Canada,
Norway,
Sweden,
the United Kingdom, and
the United States.
History and activities
While Al-Shabaab previously represented the hard-line militant youth movement within the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), it is now described as an extremist splinter group of the ICU. However, since the ICU's downfall, the distinction between the youth movement and the so-called successor organization to the ICU, the PRM, appears to have been blurred.Their core comprised veterans who fought and defeated the secular Mogadishu warlords of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism
Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism
The Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism was a Somali alliance created by various warlords and businesspeople. The alliance included Botan Ise Alin, Mohammed Dheere, Mohamed Qanyare, Musa Sudi Yalahow, Nuur Daqle, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid, Omar Muhamoud Finnish and others...
(ARPCT) at the Second Battle of Mogadishu
Second Battle of Mogadishu
The Second Battle of Mogadishu was a battle fought for control of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. The opposing forces were the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism , and militia loyal to the Islamic Court Union . The conflict began in mid-February, 2006, when Somali...
. Their origins are not clearly known, but former members say Hizbul Shabaab was founded as early as 2004. Al-Shabaab also has various foreign fighters from around the world, according to an Islamic hardliner Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Manssor.
As of January 2009, Ethiopian forces have withdrawn from Somalia and Al-Shabaab carries on its fight against former ally and Islamic Courts Union leader, President Sharif Ahmed
Sharif Ahmed
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is the current President of Somalia and former Commander in Chief of the Islamic Courts Union .-Biography:...
, who heads the Transitional Federal Government
Transitional Federal Parliament
The Transitional Federal Parliament of the Somali Republic is an interim Parliament of Somalia formed in neighboring Kenya in 2004.The Transitional Federal Parliament has 550 members representing Somalia's clans, Islamist opposition, representatives of citizens' groups and the Somali...
. Al-Shabaab has had success in its campaigns against the weak Transitional Federal Government, capturing Baidoa, the base of the Transitional Federal Parliament, on January 26, 2009, and killing three ministers of the government in a December 3, 2009 suicide bomb attack on a medical school graduation ceremony.
On the other hand, in the areas it controls, Al-Shabaab has reduced over-sized cheap food imports. This has allowed Somalia's own grain production, which normally has high potential, to flourish. This had the effect of shifting income from urban to rural areas, from mid-income groups to low-income groups, and from overseas farmers to local farmers. The policy worked remarkably well until drought hampered local food production increasingly since 2010. In response, Al-Shabaab announced in July 2011 that it had withdrawn its restrictions on international humanitarian workers.
Opposition
Complaints made against the group include its attacks on aid workers and harsh enforcement of ShariaSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law. According to journalist Jon Lee Anderson
Jon Lee Anderson
Jon Lee Anderson is a biographer, author, international investigative reporter, and staff writer for The New Yorker, reporting from warzone locales such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Uganda, Israel, El Salvador, Ireland, Lebanon, Iran, and throughout the Middle East. Anderson has also written for The New...
:
The number of people in Somalia who are dependent on international food aid has tripled since 2007, to an estimated 3.6 million. But there is no permanent foreign expatriate presence in southern Somalia, because the Shabaab has declared war on the UN and on Western non-governmental organizations. International relief supplies are flown or shipped into the country and distributed, wherever possible, through local relief workers. Insurgents routinely attack and murder them, too; forty-two have been killed in the past two years alone.
Anderson also reports that enforcement of law against adultery or zina
Zina (Arabic)
Zinā or Zināʾ is generally defined by Islamic Law as unlawful sexual intercourse, i.e. intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married to one another or in a state of lawful concubinage based on ownership...
includes execution. In 2008,
in the port of Kismayo, a young girl accused of adultery was buried up to her neck in the field of a soccer stadium packed with spectators, and then stonedStoningStoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
to death; her family said that she was only thirteen years old and had in fact been gang-raped. This summer, in the ancient coastal town of MercaMercaMerca is a port city on the coast of southern Somalia, facing the Indian Ocean. It is the main town in the Shabeellaha Hoose region, and is located approximately southwest of the nation's capital, Mogadishu.-History:...
, the Shabaab decreed that gold and silver dental fillings were un-Islamic, and dispatched patrols to yank them out of people's mouths.
However scholar Bronwyn Bruton states that Al-Shabaab has many factions and "has stirred only a few hundred true fanatics."
The disturbing acts of violence ... including beheadings and amputations and the pulling of gold fillings ... are often committed by illiterate children rather than radical leaders. There has been little reporting in the West of the fact that a wide majority of al Shabab factions have actively cooperated with international humanitaritan relief efforts – if only for a fee. Additional research on al-Shabaab's economic activity has been published by social science researcher, Mitchell Sipus, who has examined the manner in which al-Shabaab relies upon remittances and business creation within the migrant diaspora to fund its operations.
According to Bruton, al-Shabaab "is not a transnational terrorist organization" although most would contend this argument. Sipus's research has shown that this organization maintains an appeal among Somalis not because their affinity for the organization, but rather for economic and social interests. Not only does al-Shabaab provide financial incentives for support, but by "promoting the vision of the ummah, a unified Islamic state under shari’a law, al-Shabaab attracts both popular support and scathing criticism among Somali people within and outside the country."
Shabaab have persecuted Somalia's small Christian minority
Christianity in Somalia
Christianity is a minority religion in Somalia, with around 1,000 practitioners in a population of over eight million inhabitants. Most Christians in Somalia come from the Bantu minority ethnic group, and belong to the Evangelical and Wesleyan Church of the Nazarene...
, sometimes affixing the label on people they suspect of working for Ethiopian intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
. The group has also desecrated the graves of prominent Sufi Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s in addition to a Sufi mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
and university, claiming that Sufi practices conflict with their strict interpretation of Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
. This has led to confrontations with Sufi organized armed groups who have organized under the banner of Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a
Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a
Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a or ASWJ is a Somali paramilitary group consisting of moderate Sufis opposed to the radical islamist group Al-Shabaab. They are fighting to prevent strict sharia and Wahhabism from being imposed on Somalia and protecting the country's Sunni-Sufi traditions and generally...
.
Echoing the transition from a nationalistic struggle to one with religious pretenses, Al Shabaab’s propaganda strategy is starting to reflect this shift. Through their religious rhetoric Al Shabaab attempts to recruit and radicalize potential candidates, demoralize their enemies, and dominate dialogue in both national and international media. According to reports Al Shabaab is trying to intensify the conflict: "It would appear from the alleged AMISOM killings that it is determined to portray the war as an affair between Christians and Muslims to shore up support for its fledgling cause... The bodies, some beheaded, were displayed alongside Bibles and crucifixes. The group usually beheads those who have embraced Christianity or Western ideals.
militants have begun placing beheaded corpses next to bibles and crucifixes in order to intimidate local populations.” In April of 2010 Al Shabaab announced that it would begin banning radio stations from broadcasting BBC and Voice of America, claiming that they were spreading Christian propaganda. By effectively shutting down the Somali media they gain greater control of the dialog surrounding their activities.
2006
- June 10, 2006—The Guardian reports "An unnamed network run by one of Aweys's proteges, Aden Hashi Farah "Ayro" is linked to the murder of four western aid workers and over a dozen Somalis who allegedly cooperated with counter-terror organisations."
- June 15, 2006—Al-Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", was said to have taken arms sent from Eritrea (see page 12).
- July 26, 2006—Sheikh Mukhtar Robow MansurSheikh Mukhtar Robow MansurSheikh Mukhtar Robow is a Somali rebel leader and spokesman for Somalia's Al-Shabaab.-Early life:Robow was born in the 1960s in the Berdaale district of the Bay region in southern Somalia. He studied at a local Qur'anic school, and later continued his religious education in the mosques of...
or "Abu-Mansur" was reported accepting another load of arms from Eritrea (see page 15). - July—720 Somali volunteers were selected by Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" to travel to Lebanon to fight against the Israelis. Of those, only 80 returned to Mogadishu. In September, another 20 returned, along with five members of Hizbollah. (see page 24).
- The bankruptcy of a remittance company, Dalsan International, whose staff included the brother of Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", involved the suspicious disappearance of $10 million dollars. It was alleged, "an ICU military leader managed to divert a large amount of money to help financially support the organization in their fight for the control of Mogadishu during the June 2006 confrontation with the former counter terrorism alliance" (see page 39). (Also see ARPCT, Second Battle of MogadishuSecond Battle of MogadishuThe Second Battle of Mogadishu was a battle fought for control of Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. The opposing forces were the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism , and militia loyal to the Islamic Court Union . The conflict began in mid-February, 2006, when Somali...
)
2007
- As of January 6, 2007, after the Fall of MogadishuFall of MogadishuThe Fall of Mogadishu occurred on December 28, 2006, when the militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops entered the Somali capital unopposed...
and KismayoFall of KismayoThe Fall of Kismayo occurred on January 1, 2007, when the troops of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian forces entered the Somali city of Kismayo unopposed...
to the TFG, the leaders of the Shabaab were in hiding still at large. A member of the disbanded group said they once numbered about 1,000 (lower than other claims by former members), but they do not have any weapons any more. Still, there was support for the call of leaders to maintain jihad against the Ethiopians and secular government. - January 19, 2007—Pro-Islamic Courts Union website featured a video describing the reformation of the ICU into the "Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations" (PRM), alternatively translated and referred to in press reports as the "Somali People's Insurgent Movement" (SPIM) or "Somali People's Resistance Movement" (SPRM). On January 24, Sheikh Abdikadir was announced to be its commander of the Banadir region.
- January 31, 2007—Al-Shabaab made a video warning African Union peacekeepers to avoid coming to Somalia, claiming "Somalia is not a place where you will earn a salary — it is a place where you will die."
- February 9, 2007—800 Somali demonstrators in north MogadishuMogadishuMogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
, where Islamist support was strongest, burned U.S., Ethiopian, and UgandaUgandaUganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
n flags in protest of the proposed African UnionAfrican UnionThe African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
(AU) led and United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
endorsed peacekeepingPeacekeepingPeacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
mission, known as AMISOM. "Abdirisaq", a masked representative of the resistance group, the PRM, said Ethiopian troops would be attacked in their hotels.
2008
- February 28, 2008—United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist OrganizationU.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations"Foreign Terrorist Organization" is a designation of non-United States-based organizations declared terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act...
in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Al-Shabaab achieved a military victory in the August 2008 Battle of Kismayo
Battle of Kismayo
The Battle of Kismayo began on August 20, 2008 when Islamist al-Shabaab and Islamic Courts Union fighters began an offensive to conquer the Southern Somali port of Kismayo from pro-government militias. Three days of fighting reportedly killed 89 people and injured 207 more...
. After several days of fighting in which scores of deaths were reported, Al-Shabaab fighters defeated the militia of Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale
Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale
Barre Adan Shire , also known as Barre Hiiraale, Barre "Hirale" Aden Shire, or Abdikadir Adan Shire, is a former Minister of Defense of the Somali Transitional Federal Government . He was previously the TFG Minister for National Reconstruction and Resettlement...
and took control of the port city. Kismayo had been held by the TFG since January 2007. The fighting in Kismayo is reported to have displaced an estimated 35,000 people. After the withdrawal of Hiiraale's fighters, Al-Shabaab commenced a peaceful disarmament process targeting local armed groups that had been contributing to insecurity in Kismayo. The group has been blamed or claimed responsibility for, among other attacks, the February 2008 Bosaso bombings and the 2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings
2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings
The Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings occurred on October 29, 2008, when six suicide bombers attacked in coordinated car-bombings targets in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, and the Puntland port of Bosaso, both in northern Somalia...
. By late 2008, it was estimated that the group controlled the whole of southern Somalia, except for some pockets of Mogadishu. This was more territory than that controlled by the Islamic Courts Union at the height of their power.
In December 2008, Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki
Anwar al-Awlaki was an American and Yemeni imam who was an engineer and educator by training. According to U.S. government officials, he was a senior talent recruiter and motivator who was involved with planning operations for the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda...
sent a communique to Al-Shabaab, congratulating them. He thanked them for "giving us a living example of how we as Muslims should proceed to change our situation. The ballot has failed us, but the bullet has not". In conclusion, he wrote: "if my circumstances would have allowed, I would not have hesitated in joining you and being a soldier in your ranks".
2009
- January—UN-sponsored peace talks conclude in Djibouti with Ethopians agreeing to withdraw from Somalia and Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif AhmedSharif AhmedSharif Sheikh Ahmed is the current President of Somalia and former Commander in Chief of the Islamic Courts Union .-Biography:...
"agreed to stop fighting." - January 31—Shiekh Sharif Ahmed is elected present of the Transitional Federal Government. Opposing any negotiatied settlement with Ethiopia, al-Shabaab "declares war on him."
- February 22—2009 African Union base bombings in Mogadishu: al-Shabaab carried out a suicideSuicide attackA suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
car bombCar bombA car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
attack against an African UnionAfrican UnionThe African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
military baseMilitary baseA military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
in MogadishuMogadishuMogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
, killing at least six BurundiBurundiBurundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
an peacekeeperPeacekeeperPeacekeeper may refer to:* A person involved in peacekeeping* Peace officer* Conservator of the peaceIn vehicles:* The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, a land-based nuclear ICBM...
s. - May—al-Shabaab, along with allied group Hizbul Islam, launched a major offensive in the city of MogadishuBattle of Mogadishu (2009)The Battle of Mogadishu started with an Islamist offensive, when rebels from al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam attacked and captured government bases in the capital of Mogadishu, the fighting soon spread causing hundreds of casualties. It ended up becoming the largest battle in Mogadishu since the...
to take over the city, leaving hundreds killed and injured and tens of thousands displaced. The group made large gains, taking over most of the capital. - June 18—Al-Shabaab claimed the 2009 Beledweyne bombing2009 Beledweyne bombingThe 2009 Beledweyne bombing took place on June 18, 2009 in Beledweyne, Hiiraan, Somalia. A suicide bomber carried out the attack, detonating an explosives-laden vehicle at the front gate of the Medina Hotel...
, which killed 35 people including Somali security minister Omar Hashi AdenOmar Hashi AdenOmar Hashi Aden , was a member of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, eventually rising to Security Minister. He was assassinated by a suicide bomber on 18 June 2009 in Beledweyne, in the Hiiraan region in central Somalia.Aden was from Hiiraan region...
. - June 9—U.S. Diplomatic Security Daily cable, 09STATE63860, includes:
- July 8—A video message featuring an American commander in al-Shabaab, Abu Mansur al-Amriki, is released in which he responds and denounces U.S. President Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's June 2009 Cairo speech to Arabs and Muslims. - August 4—Four men allegedly connected with al-Shabaab in MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
were charged over the Holsworthy Barracks terror plotHolsworthy Barracks terror plotThe Holsworthy Barracks terror plot was an alleged Islamist terrorist plot uncovered in August 2009 targeting Holsworthy Barracks—an Australian Army training area located in the outer south-western Sydney suburb of Holsworthy—with automatic weapons...
, a plan to storm the Holsworthy BarracksHolsworthy BarracksHolsworthy Barracks is located in the outer south-western Sydney suburb of Holsworthy. It is part of the Holsworthy military reserve, which has been a training area and artillery range for the Australian Army since World War I. Following World War II it became a major base for the permanent...
with automatic weapons; and shoot army personnel or others until they were killed or captured. Al-Shabaab has denied any connection with the men. It has subsequently been listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia. - August 11—Reuters reports residents in Marka complain "al Shabaab has been rounding up anyone seen with a silver or gold tooth and taking them to a masked man who then rips them out using basic tools." Residents told Reuters that al Shabaab declared that since gold and silver teeth "are used for fashion and beauty," they are against Islam.
- September 14—Members of the group were killed in a raid targeting Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was also killed.
- September 17: The group claims a second bombing of an AU base, which kills 17 peacekeepers.
- September 20—Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen released a 48-minute video, "Labayka Ya Usama," ("Here I am at Your Service, Usama") on transnational jihadi web sites. The video is framed around Usama bin Laden's March 2009 audio message "Fight On, O' Champions of Somalia," and features footage of African Union "atrocities" in Somalia and Harakat al-Shabaab units undergoing military training. Bin Laden and the Amir (leader) of Harakat al-Shabaab, Shaykh Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Abu al-Zubayr, criticize Somalia's interim president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, and the religious scholars of Somalia ('ulama al-Sumaal) for apostasy. Abu Mansoor Al-AmrikiAbu Mansoor Al-AmrikiOmar Shafik Hammami , known by the pseudonym Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki , is an American member of the Somali Islamist paramilitary group al-Shabaab.-Early life:...
, the American field commander in the group, is also briefly featured. - October 15—Al-Shabaab began publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are deceptive. They sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to be being deceptive. The women were then inspected by other women to see if they are being deceptive, if they are then they are ordered to stop.
- November 1—Al-Shabaab announced the establishment of Al Quds Brigade, a military unit specifically tasked with attacking Israel and Jewish interests in Africa. In a rally held the previous week in Mogadishu, a top Al Shabaab official said, "It is time to go for open war against Israel in order to drive them from the holy cities."
- December 3—Suspected of being behind the 2009 Hotel Shamo bombing2009 Hotel Shamo bombingThe 2009 Hotel Shamo bombing was a suicide bombing at the Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 3 December 2009. The bombing killed 25 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government, and injured 60 more, making it the deadliest attack in Somalia since the Beledweyne...
, which kills 24, including three government ministers.
2010
- January 2: A man linked to al-Shabaab tried to kill Danish cartoonist Kurt WestergaardKurt WestergaardKurt Westergaard is a Danish cartoonist who created the controversial cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb in his turban. This cartoon was the most contentious of the 12 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons, which met with strong and sometimes violent reactions from Muslims worldwide...
at his home in AarhusAarhusAarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Westergaard was not hurt and the assailant was shot, wounded, and arrested. - February 1: al-Shabaab declares for the first time that it maintains strong ties with al-Qaeda.
- February 7: The militant group declares jihad on Kenya over allegations that it is training Somali troops although Kenya denied involvement.
- February 15: an al-Shabab suicide car bomber attempted to assassinate Somalia's state minister for defence, Yusuf Mohamed Siyad when he drove his explosive-laden vehicle towards Mr Siyad's car and detonated, injuring two of his security guards.
- March 5: The Government of Canada lists Al Shabaab as a terrorist group.
- March 26: al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb that exploded in Mogadishu killing a Somali government official and injuring the deputy DC for security.
- March 27: al-Shabaab destroys grave sites of foreign soldiers and a prominent Sufi scholar and hides the body of the scholar.
- April 15: The group bans the ringing of school bells as un-Islamic since bell ringing is, in the words of Sheik Farah Kalar, "a sign of the Christian churches."
- June 5: Two New Jersey men, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, who were bound for Somalia seeking to join Al Shabab were arrested at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The men, who have been charged with conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap persons outside the United States, allegedly planned to kill American troops who they thought would soon be deployed to Somalia to help fight Al Shabaab.
- July 11: Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for the July 2010 Kampala attacksJuly 2010 Kampala attacksThe July 2010 Kampala attacks were suicide bombings carried out against crowds watching a screening of 2010 FIFA World Cup Final match during the World Cup at two locations in Kampala, Uganda, on , 2010. The attacks left 74 dead and 70 injured...
, which killed 74 people. The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
quotes an International Crisis Group analyst as saying, [Al-Shabaab is] "sending a message: Don't come here propping up the Somalia government ... It's a message of deterrence." - July 21: Zachary Chesser, the Virginia man who threatened the creators of South ParkSouth ParkSouth Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
for satirizing issues surrounding the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad, was arrested and charged in July 2010 for providing material support to Al Shabaab. Chesser was originally apprehended in New York as he attempted to board an Africa-bound plane. He later told federal authorities that he had attempted to join Al Shabaab in Somalia on two previous occasions. - July 22: African UnionAfrican UnionThe African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
ministers agree to expand AMISOM's mandate from a peacekeeping focus to a peace-enforcement focus that would engage al-Shabaab more directly. The decision was to be discussed at upcoming meetings of the AU Security Council and the UN Security Council for final approval. - August 23–24: Al Shabaab is accused of launching attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu that kill over 300.
- October 28: Al-Shabaab publicly executed two teenage girls, by firing squad, on charges of spying. Residents gave conflicting information regarding the girls' ages, but they were believed to have been 17 and 18 years old.
- December 20: Hizbul Islam and the Somali Islamic partyJabhatul IslamiyaJabhatul Islamiya also known as the Somali Islamic Front was an Islamist insurgent group in Somalia. The group participated in the 2006-2009 insurgency against Ethiopia and in January 2009 merged with the Asmara based wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, led by Sheikh Hassan...
merged with Al-Shabaab, retaining the name 'Al-Shabaab'.
2011
- February 4: Al-Shabaab launch terrestrial news channel "Al-Kata'ib" to broadcast propaganda. The first footage shown is a recording of confessions of an alleged foreign spy captured in Somalia
- March 5: Al-Shabaab loses control of the border town of Bulo Hawo in a joint offensive conducted by government forces working with AMISOM; the militia had controlled the city for two years beforehand. It was also reported that al-Shabaab was resisting against UN/Government forces for control of three of Mogadishu's sixteen districts, with six still remaining in their control.
- March 16: Abdikadir Yusuf AarAbdikadir Yusuf AarAbdikadir Yusuf Aar aka Sheikh Qalbi was a senior Al-Shabaab officer from the Juba region.He had been a member of Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya in Luq from 1995 - 2002...
aka Sheikh QalbiAbdikadir Yusuf AarAbdikadir Yusuf Aar aka Sheikh Qalbi was a senior Al-Shabaab officer from the Juba region.He had been a member of Al-Itihaad Al-Islamiya in Luq from 1995 - 2002...
a senior Al-Shabab official serving as the groups leader in JubaJubalandJubaland , also known as Azania or the Juba Valley and formerly as Trans-Juba , is an autonomous region in southern Somalia. Its eastern border lies 40–60 km east of the Jubba River, stretching from Gedo to the Indian Ocean, while its western side flanks the North Eastern Province in...
and GedoGedoGedo is an administrative region , formerly part of the historic Upper Juba Region in southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. Gedo is a region created in 1980s and is bordered by the Ogaden in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province in Kenya, and the Somali regions of Bakool, Bay,...
region was killed in MogadishuMogadishuMogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
. - April 3: Al-Shabaab loses control of the town Dhobley near the KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n boarder. TFG forces together with Raskamboni movementRaskamboni movementThe Raskamboni movement is a Somali paramilitary group active in Jubaland led by Sheikh Ahmed Madobe. The Raskomboni are opposed to the radical islamist group al-Shabab.-History:...
had been fighting for several days before they took control of the town with support from helicopters of the Kenya Air ForceKenya Air ForceThe Kenya Air Force is the national Air Force of Kenya.The main airbase operating fighters is Laikipia Air Base in Nanyuki, while Moi Air Base in Eastleigh, Nairobi is the HQ & operations Kenya Air Force. Other bases include FOB Mombasa The Kenya Air Force (KAF) is the national Air Force of...
. The same day as Al-Shabab lost control of the town Hassan Abdurrahman Gumarey, an Al-Shabaab official was killed in action (KIAKilled in actionKilled in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
) in Dhobley. - June 11: Wanted Al-Shabaab operative and Al-QaedaAl-QaedaAl-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
collaborator Fazul Abdullah MohammedFazul Abdullah MohammedFazul Abdullah Mohammed was a member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa as of November 2009. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship...
is killed by security forces of the SNA in AfgooyeAfgooye-Location:It is situated about 25 kilometres west of Mogadishu, the nation's capital. The Shabelle River passes through the middle of the town.-History:Afgooye was part of Italian Somaliland during the early part of the 20th century...
northwest of Mogadishu; one other terrorist was killed and $40,000 worth of U.S. dollars are recovered. - July 5, Al-Shabaab officially lifts its ban on some aid agencies, but upholds it later in the month vis-a-vis certain organizations. As an explanation for this discrepancy, the group's spokesman Sheikh Ali Dhere indicates that the group has no issue with allowing both Muslim and non-Muslim individuals from helping the drought-impacted people as long as those groups harbor no ulterior motives in doing so. Dhere adds that his organization believes that many aid agencies are exaggerating their relief requirements so as to satisfy their own selfish objectives. He also suggests that the actual nature of many of the relief operations are twofold: first, some of the aid workers are in effect attacking as "spies", while others, including the UN, he charges have a tacit political agenda not in keeping with what they claim to be doing. In addition, Dhere alleges that aid agencies that are providing assistance in neighboring countries are attempting to siphon away the various Muslim peoples of Somalia in order to more easily indoctrinate them into Christianity. Al-Shabaab members are reported to have intimidated, kidnapped and killed some aid workers, leading to a suspension of humanitarian operations and an exodus of relief agents. As a result, AU troops step up efforts in late July 2011 to protect civilians and aid workers from attacks.
- July 26: Al-Shabaab members ban samosaSamosaA samosa is a stuffed, deep fried,snack that is very popular in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa, North Africa and South Africa...
s (sambusas) in regions they control, deeming the snack too Christian on account of its triangular, allegedly Holy TrinityTrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
-like shape. - August 6: The Transitional Federal Government's troops and their AMISOM allies reportedly manage to capture all of Mogadishu from the Al-Shabaab militants. Witnesses report Al-Shabaab vehicles abandoning their bases in the capital for the south-central city of BaidoaBaidoaBaidoa is a city in south-central Somalia, situated by road northwest of the capital Mogadishu. It is the capital of the Bay region, which is traditionally inhabited by the Digil and Mirifle clans....
. The group's spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage describes the exodus as a tactical retreat, and vows to continue the insurgency against the national government. Observers suggest that the pullout may at least in part have been caused by internal ideological rifts in the rebel organization. - August 9: An ideological split reportedly emerges within Al-Shabaab's leadership. Muktar Ali Robow, Sheikh Hassan Dahir and other southern commanders who hail from the areas of the country worst-hit by the effects of the drought, reportedly want to extend relief efforts to the impacted peoples. However, they are overruled by Ahmed Abdi Godane, a northern commander credited with strengthening the group's ties with Al-Qaeda. Observers suggest that the move is a manifestation of Godane's increasing paranoia since the assassination of his close ally Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the latter of whom Godane suspects was set up by his foes within the organization. Sheikh Hassan Dahir also proposes that the group change its tactics by "abandoning Mogadishu to launch Taliban style attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan", but is rebuffed by leaders within the organization.
- October 4: A truck carrying explosive was driven into a government ministry killing 139 and injuring 93. The group has claimed responsibility for these attacks.
- October 16: The government of KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
announces that it has sent troops into Somalia in order to fight Al-Shabaab. - October 20: Two women, Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, both from Rochester, MinnesotaRochester, MinnesotaRochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...
were arrested for sending money and fighters to aid the group.
Defections
In 2009, Al-Shabaab witnessed a number of its fighters, including several leaders, defectDefection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government. One such high profile defection was that in early November 2009 of Sheikh Mohamed Abdullahi (also known as "Sheikh Bakistani"), who commanded the Maymana Brigade. Sheikh Bakistani told Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
(VOA) Somali Services that he found the group's suicide missions and executions unbearable. He also indicated that his father, a well-known local religious leader, had visited him several times and helped convince him to defect. However, a spokesman for Al-Shabaab denied that Sheikh Bakistani was a member of the group. During the same month, in an interview with Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
(AFP) in Villa Somalia
Villa Somalia
Villa Somalia is the presidential palace of Somalia, which sits on high ground near the shores of the Indian Ocean in Mogadishu, with access to both the harbor and airport....
arranged by the Somali federal government, one former Al-Shabaab fighter reported being disillusioned with the group's direction, indicating that while he began fighting in 2006 "to kick out the Ethiopian invaders", he defected a month ago, "disgusted by the false interpretations Al-Shabaab give of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
". Similarly, a former Hizbul Islam commander recently defected to the Somali government; one of his family members (another Hizbul Islam commander) had been murdered by Al-Shabaab militants as punishment for having escorted a UN convoy. He said in the VOA interview that "if you don't want to fight anymore, there's no point. That's why I quit".
In early December 2009, Sheikh Ali Hassan Gheddi, who at the time served as Deputy Commander in-Chief of Al-Shabaab militants in the Middle Shabele
Shabeellaha Dhexe
-Overview:It is bordered by the Somali regions of Galgudud, Hiran, Lower Shebelle, and Banadir, as well as the Indian Ocean.As part of the former Benadir region, Shabeellaha Dhexe's capital was Mogadishu up until the mid-1980s, when the town of Jowhar became the capital...
region, also defected to the government, indicating that "Al-Shabaab's cruelty against the people is what forced me to defect to the government side. They extort money from the people and deal with them against the teaching of Islam". Another reason he gave for defecting was Al-Shabaab's recent prohibition on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) because he felt that it directly affects civilians.
With monies from extortion dwindling in areas like Mogadishu, defections in the face of AMISOM forces, among other internal issues, Al Shabaab is turning to other militant Islamic groups for support. Al Shabaab has declared their support in order to bolster their numbers and has made a number of strategic operational ties to both Al Qaeda and AQAP in Yemen. In some cases Al Shabaab has begun flying the Al Qeada-Iraq banner at some of its rallies in order to demonstrate solidarity with the group. There are signs that Al Shabaab militants are learning from Al Qaeda’s propaganda methods. “Shabaab’s propaganda has increasingly been slicked up to resemble messages produced by Al Qaeda’s “As-Sahab” (“The Clouds”) media wing and AQAP’s “Inspire” magazine, including the release of rap songs by Omar Hammami.” It is unclear how the death of AQAP leader Anwar al-Aulaqi and others has affected this bourgeoning relationship between the two. As is evident by their merger with Hizb-ul-Islam in December 2010, Al Shabaab is turning to former rivals for assistance as their numbers decrease due to defections and casualties directly resulting from battles with AMISOM forces.
Media
| Chorus: "Send me a cruise like Maa’lam Adam al Ansari And send me a couple of tons like Zarqawi And send me a drone like Abu Layth al Libi And Special Forces like Saalih an Nabhani.” “Send me all four and send me much much more I pray for that on my way to heavens door Send me four and send me more, that what I implore An amazing martyrdom I strive for and adore." |
| — "Send Me A Cruise" by Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki Omar Shafik Hammami , known by the pseudonym Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki , is an American member of the Somali Islamist paramilitary group al-Shabaab.-Early life:... |
Al Shabaab uses various mediums in order to proliferate their propaganda. Besides traditional radio, the internet is the most heavily utilized by Al Shabaab and other militant Islamic groups such Al Qaeda because it is the easiest and most cost-effective way to reach a large audience. As the internet is especially popular with today's youth, organizations such as Al Shabaab are using online forums and chat rooms in order to recruit young followers to their cause. Al Shabaab's official website, which has since been taken-down, featured posts, videos and official statements in English, Arabic and Somali, as well as online classrooms to educate followers.
Prior to its expulsion from Mogadishu in mid-2011, Al-Shabaab had also launched the Al-Kataib propaganda television station the year before. The channel's pilot program aired the confessions of Ahmed Kisi, an alleged CIA spy, who had been executed earlier in the week.
In addition, Al-Shabaab is also using music to influence and appeal to their young followers. According to Robin Wright, "by 2010, almost eight out of every ten soldiers in Somalia's many rebel forces were children", which are especially influenced and susceptible messages conveyed to modern, western-themed music. One of Al Shabaab’s foreign-born leaders, American Omar Hammami aka Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki
Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki
Omar Shafik Hammami , known by the pseudonym Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki , is an American member of the Somali Islamist paramilitary group al-Shabaab.-Early life:...
, gained notoriety after an April 2009 video of him rapping about jihad. Hammami's most recent song, "Send Me a Cruise", debuted online on April 9, 2011.
Drought
Following the 2011 Eastern Africa drought, Al Shabaab adapted its propagandaPropaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
strategy to accommodate the changing circumstances. In some cases, group members employed humanitarian aid as a recruitment tool, using relief supplies as bribes and as an incentive to join the militants, whose numbers had decreased due to casualties and defections. Group members dismissed the UN declaration of famine in various regions as grossly exaggerated and banned various organizations from providing aid to those regions.
In response, the Prime Minister of Somalia Abdiweli Mohamed Ali
Abdiweli Mohamed Ali
Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali is a Somali economist and politician. He is the Prime Minister of Somalia.-Personal life:Ali is originally from the autonomous Puntland region in northeastern Somalia. He holds both Somali and American citizenship....
in July 2011 appointed a national committee to tackle the severe drought affecting the southern part of the country, and the following month announced the creation of a new 300-man security force. Assisted by African Union peacekeepers, the military unit had as its primary goal to protect convoys and aid from the Al-Shabaab rebels, as well as to secure the IDP camps when the relief supplies are being distributed.
Although fighting disrupted aid delivery in some areas, a scaling up of relief operations in mid-November prompted the UN to downgrade the humanitarian situation in several regions from famine to emergency levels. Humanitarian access to Al-Shabaab-controlled areas had also improved and rainfall had surpassed expectations, improving the prospects of a good harvest in early 2012.
Operation Linda Nchi
Since the TFG-led Operation Linda NchiOperation Linda Nchi
Operation Linda Nchi is the codename for a coordinated military operation between the Somalian military, the Kenyan military, the Ethiopian military, the French military, and allegedly the United States military that began on an unspecified date in mid-October 2011, when troops from Kenya crossed...
between the Somalian National Army
Military of Somalia
The Military of Somalia was, up until 1991, made up of the army, navy, air force, and air defense command. The outbreak of the Somali Civil War during that year led to the de facto dissolution of the national armed forces. However, efforts to re-establish a regular armed force by a re-constituted...
(SNA) and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) against Al-Shabaab militants in southern Somalia began, Al Shabaab has been intensifying its propaganda effort – a signal perhaps that militant forces is growing desperate as it suffers heavy losses. Group members have started to diversify their tactics, engaging in various methods in order to demoralize the allied forces. According to the Associated Press, Al Shabaab has resorted to dressing up some of its own casualties in TFG and AU uniforms, although an African Union spokesman indicated that only two corpses of AU soldiers were unaccounted for. About half of the dead bodies were also visibly Somali, prompting eye-witnesses to suggest that they were fallen Somali government soldiers. The remainder were dressed in Burundi military uniforms and resembled non-Somali foreigners, with Al-Shabaab militants displaying a Bible and some crucifixes reportedly taken from the deceased. Additionally, Al Shabaab has been conducting militia parades as a show of force in cities such as Marka.
As Al Shabaab is suffering heavy military losses, the effectiveness of their propaganda campaign to date is somewhat inconclusive. What is apparent, however, is that they are increasing their propaganda efforts without corresponding response from TFG, AMISOM and KDF forces. Al Shabaab retreats from regions in southern Somalia and areas around Mogadishu are falsely heralded as tactical maneuvers by the militants who are facing defeat - while the allied forces remain largely muted on the success that they have made in the region.
The propaganda techniques employed by Al Shabaab show the stark contrast between militant forces and the conventional armies of AMISOM. While Shabaab forces act with impunity in regards to their guerrilla tactics, the allied forces are obligated to comply with articles of the Geneva Convention which require them to warn civilians of air raids and troop movements – often times informing the very militants they intend to strike and leaving them unable to act when they observe flagrant militant activities. According to Al-Jazeera, Al-Shabaab have also attempted to capitalize on the coordinated incursion by depicting itself as a resistance force fighting foreign occupiers and urged local residents to take up arms against the Kenyan soldiers.
Eritrea
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
imposed sanctions on Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, accusing the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...
country of arming and providing financial aid to militia groups in southern Somalia's conflict zones, including Al-Shabaab. Plane loads of weapons said to be coming from Eritrea were sent to anti-government rebels in southern Somalia. AU peacekeepers also reportedly captured some Eritrean soldiers and prisoners of war. In 2010, the UN International Monitoring Group (IMG) also published a report charging the Eritrean government of continuing to offer support to rebel groups in southern Somalia, despite the sanctions already placed on the nation. The Eritrean administration emphatically denied the accusations, describing them as "concocted, baseless and unfounded" and demanding concrete evidence to be made publicly available, with an independent platform through which it may in turn issue a response. In November 2011 the UN Monitoring Group repeated claims that Eritrea would support al-Shabaab. The report says that Eritrea gives each month to al-Shabaab linked individuals in Nairobi.
Somaliland
Somaliland
Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of...
region with the Islamist extremists that are currently waging war against the Transitional Federal Government and its African Union allies. The International Strategic Studies Association
International Strategic Studies Association
The International Strategic Studies Association describes itself as Washington DC based non-governmental organization with a worldwide membership of professionals involved in national management, particularly in national and international security and strategic policy.-Recipients of ISSA...
(ISSA) published several reports shortly after the 2010 presidential elections in Somaliland, accusing the enclave's newly-elected president Ahmed M. Mahamoud Silanyo
Ahmed M. Mahamoud Silanyo
Ahmed Mahamoud Silanyo is a Somali politician. He is the current President of Somaliland, a self-proclaimed republic internationally recognized as an autonomous region in Somalia...
of having strong ties with Islamist groups, and suggesting that his political party Kulmiye
Peace, Unity, and Development Party
The Peace, Unity and Development Party is the ruling political party in Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia.-Overview:...
won the election in large part due to support from a broad-based network of Islamists, including Al-Shabaab. The ISSA also described Dr. Mohamed Abdi Gaboose, Somaliland's new Interior Minister, as an Islamist with "strong personal connections with al-Shabaab", and predicted that the militant group would consequently be empowered.
In January 2011, Puntland
Puntland
Puntland , officially the Puntland State of Somalia , is a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998....
accused Somaliland
Somaliland
Somaliland is an unrecognised self-declared sovereign state that is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. The government of Somaliland regards itself as the successor state to the British Somaliland protectorate, which was independent for a few days in 1960 as the State of...
of providing a safe haven for Mohamed Said Atom
Mohamed Said Atom
Mohamed Said Atom , alternatively Sheikh Mohamed Said Atom, is a Somali arms-smuggler, warlord and Al-Shabaab commander.-Al-Shabaab operative:...
, an arms smuggler believed to be allied with al-Shabaab. Somaliland strenuously denied the charges, calling them a smokescreen to divert attention from Puntland's own activities.
Atom and his men were reportedly hiding out and receiving medical attention in Somaliland after being pursued by Puntland forces
Galgala campaign
The Galaga campaign was a military campaign by Puntland, that started on August 8 and was completed on October 17, 2010. It was aimed re-gaining control of the Galaga hills, including many villages, that had fallen in hands of a militia loyal to Sheikh Mohamed Said Atom, a warlord which pledged...
in late 2010. The Puntland Intelligence Agency
Puntland Intelligence Agency
The Puntland Intelligence Agency is the Puntland Government's intelligence agency. Established in 1991, it was known as the Puntland Intelligence Service, until it was renamed as part of reforms instigated by President Abdirahman Mohamud Farole. Colonel Ali Mahamad Yusuf was appointed Director...
also claimed that over 70 Somaliland soldiers had fought alongside Atom's militiamen, including one known intelligence official who died in battle. Somaliland media reported in January that Atom's representative requested military assistance from the Somaliland authorities, and that he denied that Atom's militia was linked to al-Shabaab.
Puntland government documents claim that Atom's militia were used as proxy agents in 2006. They accuse Somaliland of offering financial and military assistance to destabilize Puntland and distract attention from attempts to occupy the disputed Sool
Sool
Sool is an administrative region in northern Somalia.-Overview:With its capital at Las Anod, Sool is historically known for being the seat of the anti-colonial Dervish movement....
province.
External links
- Ryu, A. 2007, 'Somali government calls for peacekeepers', Voice of America News, 13 February.
- Walker, R. 2008, 'Meeting Somalia's Islamist insurgents', BBC News, 28 April. Retrieved on 8 June 2008. (Interview with Al Shabaab member.)
- "First Stop Addis" - song by Al-Shabaab member Omar Hammami/Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki