Al-Shabaab

Main article: Somalia

Goal: overthrow of secular regimes in Islamic countries, the creation of the "Great Islamic Caliphate."

Ideology: Jihadist Salafism.

Area of distribution for 2019: Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique

Number for 2019: about 9 thousand people^[1].

Opponents: peacekeepers of the African Union (AMISOM), the UN, the army of Somalia and Kenya.

Name

Al-Shabaab is also known as Al-Shabaab, Hizbul Shabaab (Youth Party) and the People's Resistance Movement in the country of two migrations. The organization is referred to as "Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen." The term Shabaab means "youth" in Arabic.

Founders and leaders

• Moalim Aden Hashi Airo (killed),
• Abu Ubaydah,
• Ahmed Abdi Godane (killed),
• Mahat Karate (killed).

Financing

Taxes and levies are the nerves and linchpin of this Islamist group. Even losing territory, Al-Shabab structures continue to invisibly bring the mafia over the population in the manner of the mafia. The movement has taken deep roots in all areas of the local economy - from butchers to telecom. Thanks to skillful fiscal policy, in 2011 Al-Shabab raised up to $100 million annually (for comparison, al-Qaeda networks earned about $30 million a year until 2001).

The reason for the incredible financial success is a successful combination of two factors. First, the group itself was the brainchild of Mogadishu business circles, tired of the lawlessness and greed of a variety of warlords. By establishing a minimum order in central and southern Somalia, terrorists have earned a reputation as financially competent and less corrupt managers. The Shababs are bigots, but the bigots are pragmatic. To survive in a hostile environment, they had to prove that their courts, taxes and police were better than the lame alternatives coming from the federal government. And for this they had to become meticulous accountants.

Secondly, the group avoided both a resource and a donor curse. She had no drugs, no diamonds, no gold, no oil. The expulsion of the Somali diaspora was also small - Al-Shabab's reputation in emigrant circles suffered greatly after abandoning Somali nationalism in favor of obscure jihadism.

Therefore, its maktabat maaliya (Ministry of Finance) had to spend a lot of time developing a thoughtful, centralized, sensitive to regional specifics, and, most importantly, an intuitive fiscal machine. You have taxes on land, livestock, business and sales, as well as zakat (2.5% of profits). From us - money for social infrastructure, bridges, roads, subsidies for training in schools (of course, religious), compensation for the sick and wounded, the poor, etc.

At first, the fiscal machine worked smoothly. Al-Shabab started a simple rule - the driver who paid the tax received a document and could safely pass through other posts. Many preferred to drive on group-controlled roads. But with the introduction in the early 2010s. in the fiscal apparatus of young, convinced, but financially illiterate militants, everything went wrong. Taxes have become too much, and the power components are even more. The grouping quickly got a taste and became, rather, a burden and a brake on the local economy. She never managed to offer an attractive economic strategy and did not establish a single economic space. Taxes from everything and everything - from land, from retail outlets, from livestock - significantly increased the cost of doing business, and road tolls, in fact, paralyzed the economy.

History

2004: Establishment of a youth movement within the ICU

In 2004, the Minister of Defense of the Union of Islamic Courts (ICU), Aden Hashi Airo, who received military training in the Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, created a Salafi youth movement called Al-Shabab in its ranks. At the same time, young people were guided not so much by religious motives as by the ideas of the national liberation struggle. The ICU opposed Ethiopian intervention in the then-ongoing, more than twenty-year Somali civil war on the side of the Transitional Federal Government.

2006: The Ethiopian Army defeated the ICU. Al-Shabab begins to act independently

In 2006, the Union held almost the entire country under its control for several months, including the capital Mogadishu - none of the rebel groups had previously been able to achieve this. However, at the end of 2006, the ICU was defeated by the Ethiopian army.

The main successor to ICU was Al-Shabab, which proclaimed its goals to liberate Somalia from foreign troops, create an Islamic state on the principles of Salafism, and spread true Islam throughout the Horn of Africa and beyond.

2010: Expanding the geography of the conflict beyond Somalia

Since the emergence of the group, an inter-clan struggle has unfolded for leading posts in it, among its members disagreements on ideological and tactical issues did not stop.

Within Al-Shabab, two factions fought: one advocated restricting activities to Somali territory, the other insisted on expanding the scope of action and going beyond the country. The latter won.

The terrorist actions of Al-Shabab in 2010-2015 confirmed the tendency to expand the geography of the conflict in Somalia, giving it a regional character. In addition to Somalia, Kenya and Uganda, Djibouti was drawn into its orbit.

2012: Joining Al Qaeda

In 2012, Al-Shabab formally joined Al-Qaeda, which made it possible to expand the operational capabilities of the group, diversify its tactics, and receive additional funding. At the same time, affiliation with al-Qaeda led to disengagement in the ranks of Al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab militants used the already developed tactics of international terrorists - suicide attacks, sniper and mine warfare. These attacks targeted military personnel, police and other terrorist groups competing with Al-Shabab for territories and economic resources. Thus, the terrorist attacks were repeatedly subjected to the AU Mission in Somalia (in 2009, 2015 - early 2016). The struggle with the government was most often manifested in the undermining of the capital's hotels, where high-ranking officials stayed, or their cars.

2013: Attack on shopping centre and hostel in Kenya: 67 and 147 dead

In late 2011, Kenya unilaterally deployed troops to Somalia to fight Al-Shabab and deployed its troops to participate in the AU Peacekeeping Force (AMISOM) operation. The militants responded with numerous terrorist attacks and other actions, including attacks in 2013 on a shopping center in the Kenyan capital Nairobi (67 dead) and a university college hostel in Garissa (147 dead, 79 wounded).

2014:497 terror attacks: 1,022 killed

According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (USA), Al-Shabab carried out 497 terrorist attacks in 2014, killing 1,022 people.

2015: Somalia in 8th place in the world in terms of terrorism

In the ranking of countries in the world by the level of terrorism in 2015, Somalia took eighth place.

Al-Shabab has long maintained close ties with al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and North Africa, as well as Boko Haram. The militants are engaged in joint training, practice terrorist tactics, and are looking for sources of funding for their operations.

2019

Al-Shabab militants attack hotel: 23 dead

In July 2019, Al-Shabab militants attacked the Asasi Somali Hotel in Kismayo City as a conference was held there to discuss upcoming regional elections involving Somali politicians and elders. The attack began when a suicide bomber flew into a hotel building in a car loaded with explosives. After the explosion, several militants broke into the hotel and opened fire on its guests.

Al-Shabab's statement emphasized that, among other things, the militants managed to kill a white man at the hotel. According to official figures, 23 people were killed in the attack, 56 were injured. Among the dead are two journalists, one of whom was a Canadian citizen of Somali origin.

Somali police said all four attackers had been eliminated.

The port city of Kismayo is the capital of the southern province of Lower Jubba and until 2012 was partially in the hands of Al-Shabab. The group's fighters still hold parts of the province.

Map of controlled territories in Somalia

Situation in Somalia for August 2019

17 jihadists killed in Somalia

In September 2019, the Somali army said that 17 jihadists were eliminated during security operations in the country.

According to General Odawaa Yusuf Raage, 15 al-Shabab militants were killed in the southern region of Lower Juba, and two more in the central Hiran region.

Al-Shabab commander Ibrahim Abdi Turey was also killed in the operation in the Hiran area. He was an expert in assembling explosive devices, according to local media.

Police uniform attack on the SYL hotel in Mogadishu

According to the local publication Garowe Online, militants who arrived in a car and changed into police uniforms attacked the SYL Hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on the evening of December 10, 2019.

The shootout lasted until one in the morning. Law enforcement agencies have eliminated five al-Shabab terrorists, Deputy Commissioner of Police Zakia Hussen said.

The attack killed five people, including three civilians and two soldiers.

Eleven people were slightly injured, including nine civilians and two military personnel.

Two members of parliament and a former Somali interior minister were injured in the attack.

Militants of the radical group Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

2020

Execution of three Christians in Kenya

January 2, 2020 in Lamu County. Al-Shabab militants stopped several buses near the village. Vita and, having identified several Christians among the passengers, were immediately executed. Three people became victims of the terrorist attack, three more were injured. Kenyan authorities said one attacker had been arrested and the other four had been eliminated.

Attack on US military base in Kenya

At dawn on January 5, 2020, Islamists attacked the Kenyan Armed Forces on the Manda runway in Lamu County. Several militants of the group entered into battle with Kenyan military personnel. Their goal was to attempt to penetrate the runway, and from there to the base 'Camp Simba' used by international forces, including the US Armed Forces. Before the attack, the militants violated the power supply to the base and surrounding settlements.

During the attack, the militants managed to set fire to the fuel storage facility, as well as destroy two light aircraft and two helicopters of the US Armed Forces. However, three of the four aircraft were deemed non-repairable and decommissioned long before the attack. The Kenyan Armed Forces stated that they successfully defended the runway, eliminating, at the same time, four terrorists.

According to al-Shabab, the attack was carried out by an "elite detachment" of the group and is justified in the fact that hundreds of American troops are stationed on 'Camp Simba', which suppress the Islamists of the region.

The next day, January 6, it became known that three US citizens were killed in an attack by militants, Reuters reported, citing a message from the US military command in Africa. According to the military, one soldier and two civilian contractors became victims of the attack.

Active military groups in Africa. January 2020

Two more Americans were injured. The statement of the US military department indicates that they were evacuated to a safe place.

Attack on TV tower and police station in Kenya

Three teachers were killed in an alleged attack by al-Shabab militants in Garissa district in eastern Kenya in January 2020, the local Daily Nation reported, citing police.

According to the newspaper, the attack took place on Monday in the wee hours, three non-local teachers were killed.

The gunmen targeted a TV tower and a police station, Northeast Police Chief Paul Soi said. The tower was partially destroyed.

The seriously ill "emir" of the Abu Ubeid group quarreled with intelligence chief Mahad Karate

In March 2020, the Somali terrorist group Al-Shabab held a five-day consultative forum on jihad in East Africa with a hundred participants, including intellectuals, theologians and traditional leaders. No masks.

The propaganda event was held in a critical environment for Harakat Al-Shabab. The leadership of one of the most financially sustainable terrorist groups in the world is experiencing a serious split, which is based on the struggle for power, resources and finances. And this is against the background of the loss of the strategic city of Janale and continuous US airstrikes . The survival of the group is at stake, so Somali and Kenyan media dubbed the event a "crisis measure."

According to Kenyan intelligence services, the seriously ill "emir" of the Abu Ubeid group quarreled with intelligence chief Mahad Karate, a native of the influential Hawiye clan (Haber Gedir) - the one who in the 2000s. was behind the precursor of the "Shababs" - the "Union of Islamic Courts." According to Karate, his clan contributes the main money to the treasury of the group, therefore it has the right to manage finances. Therefore, Abu Ubeida expelled Karate and is engaged in the unification of other, smaller clans, against the Hawiye clan.

2023: Attack on government base in Somalia

On the morning of January 20, 2023, Islamic extremists of the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab group attacked the base of the Somali armed forces in the central part of the country. The attack took place in the vicinity of the city of Galkad, which, together with the neighboring city of Haradere, came under the control of the Somali Armed Forces in recent days.

The liberation of these cities, which for the past 15 years have been the logistics and financial centers of Al-Shabab, was presented by the Somali government as a major victory in the fight against the militants.

According to local media reports, extremists blew up two car bombs at the gates of a military base, after which they began a shootout with government forces.

Somalia's military command reported the destruction of more than 100 terrorists and the deaths of seven troops, including special forces commander Major Hassan Mohamed Osman.

Hassan Mohamed Osman, also known as Hassan Toure, is one of the officers who coordinated the liberation of the city of Galkad. Since the start of this week, he has become the third senior officer to die at the hands of extremists. Colonel Abshir Shatakey and Beledweyne Criminal Investigation Chief Jamal Ahmed were previously killed.

Al-Shabab, in turn, claimed responsibility for the attack and claimed the deaths of 159 government soldiers. Earlier, the group has significantly overestimated the death toll more than once.

In 2022, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud declared an all-out war on terrorist organizations, promising to free the entire country from militants. In January, the country's armed forces conducted several operations in which Islamic extremists were driven out of central Somalia.

In response to the successes of government troops, the militants intensified attacks on the bases of the Somali Armed Forces. The attack on the city of Galkad is the third suicide attack in January on the positions of Somali forces in the central part of the country.

2024: Security forces eliminate gunmen who seized SYL hotel in central Mogadishu

On March 14, 2024, militants of the Al-Shabab al-Mujahideen terrorist group seized a SYL hotel in the business district of the Somali capital Mogadishu and held it under siege for more than 13 hours.

According to local sources, the attack began with the explosion of a car filled with explosives located on the territory of the hotel.

This hotel is the most guarded in all of Somalia, and local sources do not exclude that the militants had accomplices among the security forces.

Nevertheless, the joint forces of the army and the police of the militants managed to eliminate.

Notes