Al-Shabaab (Somalia)

Infobox Somali faction
faction_name=Al-Shabaab


leaders=Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow"KIA
Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan
clan_tribe=
active_years=January 19 2007–present
headquarters=Mogadishu
areaofoperations=Parts of Mogadishu, Southern Somalia
predecessor=Islamic Courts Union (ICU)
allies=Foreign "mujahideen"
opponents=flagicon|Somalia Transitional Federal Government (TFG) flagicon|Ethiopia Ethiopia

Al-Shabaab (Arabic, "The Youth"), also known as As-Shabaab, Hizbul Shabaab (Arabic, "The Party of Youth") [http://forums.csis.org/africa/?p=18 Washington’s Self-Defeating Somalia Policy] Matt Bryden, CSIS Policy Forum] , and the Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations (PRM)cite news |title=Diplomats stress need for all-inclusive talks on the future of Somalia |url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-02-09-somalia_x.htm |publisher=Associated Press |date=2007-02-09 |accessdate=2007-02-09 ] , is an Islamist insurgency group 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 present group should not be confused with other more peaceful endeavors.

The group was at least previously the hard-line militant youth movement within the ICU [http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370096] , 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 [http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-06-voa25.cfm] . 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.cite press release |title=Designation of Al-Shabaab |publisher=United States Department of State |date=2008-03-18 |url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2008/mar/102338.htm |accessdate=2008-03-18] It's also described as a terrorist organization by the Norwegian Police Security Service [cite news |first=Øyvind |last=Bye Skille |title=Hold dere unna Al-Shabaab |url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/1.5046460 |publisher=Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2008-03-08 |accessdate=2008-03-18 |language=Norwegian] and the Swedish Security Service. [cite episode |title=16 mars - om Säpo och om bankernas vinster |url=http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=73338&a=1085036&lid=puff_1086444&lpos=lasMer |series=Agenda |serieslink=Agenda (television program) |network=Sveriges Television |station=SVT1 |airdate=2008-03-16 |minutes=29]

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. [http://www.somalilandtimes.net/sl/2005/238/4.shtml "Extremist" Splinter Group Of Somali Islamic Courts Formed] Somaliland Times] Their origins are not clearly known, but former members say Hizbul Shabaab was founded as early as 2004. 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. [http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-06-voa25.cfm Former Members of Radical Somali Group Give Details of Their Group] Voice of America] It has been alleged that some of the funding for Al-Shabaab's activities comes from Somali pirates. [Wallis, D. 2008, [http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnLO005723.html 'Piracy ransoms funding Somalia insurgency'] , "Reuters Africa", 24 August. Retrieved on 26 August 2008.] an allegation denied by the International Maritime Organization in East Africa [http://www.africanpath.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=5962]

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." [http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1794391,00.html Fall of Mogadishu leaves US policy in ruins] The Guardian]

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 [http://www.offnews.info/downloads/CFRSomalia.pdf Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676, November 2006] Monitoring Group on Somalia, UN (PDF Format)] (see page 12).

On July 26, 2006, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow "Abu-Mansuur" was reported accepting another load of arms from Eritrea [http://www.offnews.info/downloads/CFRSomalia.pdf Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676, November 2006] Monitoring Group on Somalia, UN (PDF Format)] (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. [http://www.offnews.info/downloads/CFRSomalia.pdf Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676, November 2006] Monitoring Group on Somalia, UN (PDF Format)] (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" [http://www.offnews.info/downloads/CFRSomalia.pdf Report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia pursuant to Security Council resolution 1676, November 2006] Monitoring Group on Somalia, UN (PDF Format)] (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. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1981644,00.html Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia 'within weeks'] The Guardian] 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 Al-Qaeda leaders to maintain "jihad" against the Ethiopians and secular government. [http://voanews.com/english/2007-01-05-voa35.cfm Disbanded Militant Youth Group in Somalia Support Al-Qaida Message] ]

On January 19, 2007 the pro-Islamic Courts Union website [http://www.qaadisiya.com 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.cite web
title=Somalia Enters a Devolutionary Cycle
url=http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_printable&report_id=612&language_id=1
date=2007-02-02
publisher=Power and Interest News Report (PINR)
accessdate=2007-02-09 ]

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."cite news
title=Somali extremists post video warning to peacekeepers
url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article20040
publisher=Associated Press
date=2007-01-31
accessdate= ]

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.cite news
title=Somalia: New group claims Mogadishu attacks
url=http://somalinet.com/news/world/Somalia/7381
date=2007-02-09
publisher=SomaliNet
accessdate=2007-02-10 ] cite news
title=Somalia’s army commander sacked as new ambassadors are appointed
url=http://www.shabelle.net/news/ne2279.htm
date=2007-02-10
publisher=Shabelle Media Network
accessdate=2007-02-10 ]

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).

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. [Al Jazeera 2008, [http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2008/08/2008822133743544949.html 'Scores dead in Somalia fighting'] , "Al Jazeera English", 23 August. Retrieved on 24 August 2008.] 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. [IRIN 2008, [http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=79977 'SOMALIA: Thousands displaced as insurgents take control of Kismayo'] , "IRIN News", 25 August. Retrieved on 25 August 2008.]

References

External links

* Alshabab Official Website, [http://www.kataaib.net]
* Ryu, A. 2007, [http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-02-13-voa36.cfm 'Somali government calls for peacekeepers'] , "Voice of America News", 13 February.
* Walker, R. 2008, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7365047.stm 'Meeting Somalia's Islamist insurgents'] , "BBC News", 28 April. Retrieved on 8 June 2008. (Interview with Al Shabaab member.)