Al-Shabaab (Somalia)

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Somali Civil War
Al-Shabaab الشباب
Leaders	Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansur" Muktar Abdirahman "Godane" Ali "Dheere" Mohamud
Years active:	January 19, 2007–present
Headquarters:	Mogadishu
Operating Areas:	Parts of Mogadishu, Southern Somalia
Preceded by:	Islamic Courts Union (ICU)
Allies:	Hizbul Islam al-Qaeda  Eritrea (allegedly)
Opponents:	Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Ethiopia AMISOM United States

v • d • e Somali Civil War Revolution (1986–92) – UN intervention (1992–93) – Attempts at reconciliation (1991–2004) – Consolidation (1998–2006) – Advance of the ICU (2006) – Ethiopian intervention (2006–2009) – War in Somalia (2009–)

Al-Shabaab (Arabic: الشباب‎, "The Youth"), also known as Ash-Shabaab, Hizbul Shabaab (Arabic, "The Party of Youth")^[1], and the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations (PRM)^[2] is a group of Somali Islamists, primarily acting in Somalia. The group developed in the wake of the loss of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) at the hands of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its backers, primarily the military of Ethiopia, in the War in Somalia (2006–present). An estimated 3,000 or so members of the ICU went underground to form an insurgency and armed cells across Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia, and are conducting attacks against the government and the allied Ethiopian forces. The term Shabaab ("youth") is common in the Islamic world for youth groups, and the current movement should not be confused with other similarly named organizations.

The group was at least previously the hard-line militant youth movement within the ICU[1], and is today described as an extremist splinter group. However, since the fall of the ICU it seems as though the distinction between the youth movement and the so called "successor organization" to the ICU, the PRM, has been blurred. The group was founded in 2004[2]. It recruits jihadists to wage war against "enemies of Islam". It's designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Department of State.^[3] It's also described as a terrorist organization by the Norwegian Police Security Service^[4] and the Swedish Security Service.^[5]

One of the group's primary objectives is the establishment of the rule of sharia.

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.^[6] 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. ^[7] Before the losses sustained by the Islamic Courts Union in December 2006, estimates of their strength varied between 3,000 to 7,000 members. Training comprised a six-week basic course. A few were sent to advanced training in Eritrea for guerrilla tactics and explosives.^[8] It has been alleged that some of the funding for Al-Shabaab's activities comes from Somali pirates.^[9] an allegation denied by the International Maritime Organization in East Africa^[10]

Contents 1 Activities 2 Organization and leadership 3 Foreigners 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Activities

On June 10, 2006 a report in The Guardian stated, "An unnamed network run by one of Aweys's proteges, Aden Hashi Farah "Ayro", has been linked to the murder of four western aid workers and more than a dozen Somalis who allegedly cooperated with counter-terror organisations."^[11]

On June 15, 2006 the leader of Al-Shabaab, Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", was said to have taken a load of arms sent from Eritrea ^[12] (see page 12).

On July 26, 2006, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Mansur or "Abu-Mansur" was reported accepting another load of arms from Eritrea^[12] (see page 15).

In 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.^[12] (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"^[12] (see page 39). (Also see ARPCT, Second Battle of Mogadishu)

As of January 6, 2007, after the Fall of Mogadishu and Kismayo to the TFG, the leaders of the Shabaab were in hiding still at large.^[13] 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.^[14]

On January 19, 2007 the pro-Islamic Courts Union website Qaadisiya.com 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.^[15]

On January 31, 2007 the group 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."^[16]

On February 9, 2007 a gathering of 800 Somali demonstrators in north Mogadishu, where Islamist support was strongest, burned U.S., Ethiopian, and Ugandan flags in protest of the proposed African Union (AU) led and United Nations endorsed peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM. "Abdirisaq", a masked representative of the resistance group, the PRM, said Ethiopian troops would be attacked in their hotels.^[2][17][18]

On February 28, 2008, the United States Department of State designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).^[3]

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.^[19] 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.^[20]

The group has been blamed or claimed responsibility for, among other attacks, the February 2008 Bosaso bombings and the 2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings.^[21][22]

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. ^[23]

On February 22, 2009, al-Shabaab carried out a suicide car bomb attack against an African Union military base in Mogadishu, killing at least six Burundian peacekeepers.^[24]

In May, 2009, al-Shabaab, along with allied grou Hizbul Islam launched a major offensive in the city of Mogadishu 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.

[edit] Organization and leadership

The organization's current leader is Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (also known as Abu Mansur). Xasan Xuseen has been described as the spiritual leader of the organization.^[25]

[edit] Foreigners

Al-Shabaab is said to have non-Somali foreigners in its ranks, particularly at its leadership^[26]. Fighters from the Persian Gulf and international jihadists were called to join the holy war against the Somali government and its Ethiopian allies. Though Somali Islamists did not use suicide bombing tactics before, the foreign elements of Al-Shabaab are blamed for several suicide bombings.^{[27] [28]} UN's 2006 report stated Iran, Libya, Egypt and others in the Persian Gulf region as the main backers of the Islamist extremists. Egypt has a longstanding policy of securing the Nile River flow by destabilizing Ethiopia. ^[29][30] Similarly, recent media reports also cited Egyptian and Arab jihadists as the core elements of the Al-Shabaab, who are training Somalis in sophisticated weaponry and suicide bombing techniques.^[31] A few young Somali men who have emigrated with their families to the United States have also reportedly been recruited to fight in Somalia.^[32] According to UN Security Council documents, submitted by the US there are some 280-300 fighters being used by Somali rebel groups, mostly Al-Shabaab.^[33]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Alshabab Official Website,[3]
• 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.)

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