Key Takeaway: Al-Shabaab’s promotion of charitable activities and normalcy in its territories contrasts intentionally with the violence it brings to bear elsewhere. Though it may not have a “monopoly on violence,” it portrays itself as a majority stakeholder in military… Read More ›
Amid violent infighting between forces loyal to al-Shabaab top leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and dissenting leaders, media reports and security analysts were quick to pose Aweys’s negotiated surrender to central Somalia’s Ximan and Xeeb administration as a big victory for… Read More ›
Key Takeaways: [1] Acute divisions among top al-Shabaab figures is less important than the often existential and broader divisions among other armed groups in Somalia. [2] Training/arming Somali forces is less useful unless deeper divisions are better addressed. On the… Read More ›
Yet again, media sources–sparked by a UN-funded Bar Kulan report–are speculating that fighters loyal to al-Shabaab’s top leader Ahmed Abdi Godane (aka Abu Zubeyr) killed embattled American jihadi Omar Hammami (aka Abu Mansur al-Amriki). For a background of the conflict… Read More ›
Tension appears to be growing between al-Shabaab and rival Salafi group al-I’tisam–both offshoots of Somalia’s defunct Salafi-Jihadi group al-Itihad al-Islami (AIAI). On 7 March 2013, a grenade was thrown at the al-Rawda mosque in Bosaso during an al-I’tisam lecture ironically entitled “Infringements on Islam… Read More ›
On 29 January 2013, an al-Shabaab “defector” made it through a series of checkpoints in the heavily guarded Villa Somalia government compound and detonated himself near Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon’s home. The attack killed the bomber, two other people,… Read More ›
On 12 January 2013, French special forces attempted to rescue kidnapped French spy “Denis Allex” in the middle of the night from a hideout in the al-Shabaab-controlled town of Buulo Mareer (about 30 km south of Marka.) However, the operation… Read More ›
In the early hours of 12 January 2013, French special forces failed in an operation to rescue French intelligence agent Denis Allex from al-Shabaab in the town of Buulo Mareer. Buulo Mareer is firmly controlled by al-Shabaab–although Somalia National Army… Read More ›
This is the first in a multi-part series about Somalia in 2013. In 2012, the Somali National Army and its partners in AMISOM and Ethiopia retook major al-Shabaab strongholds–including the lucrative port of Kismayo–and essentially confined al-Shabaab to the southern… Read More ›
Al-Shabaab’s most prominent American fighter Abu Mansur al-Amriki, aka Omar Hammami, has been in a tenuous state in the group since releasing a March 2012 video stating his life was in danger due to differences with leaders. He also has issued several public criticisms of… Read More ›
Members of the Muslim Youth Centre (MYC)–a radical group that advocates for Jihad in response to marginalization against Kenyan Muslims–has claimed that the “mujahideen” were responsible for recent attacks in Nairobi’s neighborhood of Eastleigh. After three grenade attacks since 5 December… Read More ›
On 5 December 2012, al-Shabaab (AS) forces in Puntland’s Galgala mountains carried out two attacks on Puntland Security Forces (PSF) in the area. Coming down from its mountain hideouts west of Galgala town, AS attacked a PSF outpost in Sugure, located… Read More ›
AMISOM, the Somali National Army (SNA), and Ras Kamboni formally ousted al-Shabaab from its lucrative hub in Kismayo in early October 2012, but al-Shabaab has maintained a heavy informal influence in the port city. The group has carried out improvised… Read More ›
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