Al Shabaab, Case Study Example

Ideology

Al Shabab and its leaders have stated local and international goals. Despite the group’s claimed goal of uniting East African Somali people under an Islamic government, it has expressed support for global jihadist ambitions. Ethiopia’s 2006–2009 invasion of Somalia serves as an excellent recruiting tool for Al-Shabab, which leverages the conflict in the country to recruit fighters and spread its message (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). However, scholars believe that the differences between local and global might be attached within the same organization—some militants promote offensive jihadist goals. When it comes to protecting the country from foreign intervention and corruption, others see it as a battleground (Harrington & Thompson, 2021).

There’s no way of knowing how Al Qaeda’s support for Al Shabaab effects the group in battle, despite the fact that Al Shabaab’s allegiance to the organization (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). Al Shabaab has between 5,000 and 10,000 members in Somalia (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). Religious council members assented to by the emir of al-Shabaab and given responsibility for the group’s finances, and media relations for the organization’s leadership make up this shura (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). Amniyat, an intelligence organization with specific policing responsibilities, and Al-Hisbah, al Shabaab’s police force, are only two of the group’s several security agencies (Felter et al., 2021). Al Shabaab fighters accused of spying on state intelligence agencies are purified by Amniyat, for example.

In addition, Al Shabaab has a well-oiled administrative and financial apparatus that allows it to run smoothly and generate large sums of money for the organization. Rather than going to Somali state courts, some Somalis traveled into al Shabaab-controlled territory to use the mobile courts operated by the terrorist group in the past (Felter et al., 2021). Although Somali charcoal is banned internationally, al Shabaab makes money from the illicit market for the substance. Academics in Mogadishu estimated in 2020 that al Shabaab was bringing in $15 million a month in tax revenue via operations, including home construction and customs charges collected on arriving shipping containers, according to the researchers (Harrington & Thompson, 2021)). Because of Al Shabaab’s financial resources, the UN believes that the group spent more than $20 million in 2019 on personnel, weapons, and manipulation of information to keep up its military activities and produce long-term revenue (Harrington & Thompson, 2021).

Tactics, and Targets

They use massive explosives and suicide bombers to attack Somalia’s government, military, and citizens. According to one analysis, between 2006 and 2017, al Shabaab utilized 216 suicide bombers in 155 attacks, killing up to 2,218 people (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). To exact revenge on the Somali people and the international community, al Shabaab employed suicide bombers in 2011 in Mogadishu.

The above milia group has also been known for striking countries that support the continuing foreign military involvement in Somalia. Seventy-six people were killed in a sequence of three bombings in Kampala, Uganda, by al Shabaab in 2010 (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). A statement issued by the terrorist group al-Shabaab threatened more attacks if Uganda persisted in providing military personnel to the AMISOM peacekeeping campaign (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). Al Shabaab’s September 2013 siege of Nairobi’s Westgate Mall that killed 67 people received a similar justification from Al Shabaab (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). As a result of the September 21 incident, Al Shabaab urged the Kenyan government to take out its military personnel from its nation, arguing that the Somali Muslims were harassed by Kenyan troops in their country. One American serviceman and two contractors were killed when Al Shabaab militants stormed Camp Simba, a site used by the United States and Kenyan militaries (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). Claims by the militia group that Camp Simba protects Kenyan invaders and prepares their men for Somalia operations were featured in a propaganda film (Harrington & Thompson, 2021).

Activity

In 2021, Somalia’s government and foreign forces will fight al-military Shabaab’s might head-on. Al-central Shabab’s Somali town of Amara was overrun by fighters loyal to the organization in the same year, resulting in the seizing of the army post (Harrington & Thompson, 2021). Conflicts between al Shabaab and its partners have repeatedly demonstrated that the group can meet a lengthy rebellion after the many United States and global measures to dismantle its conventional forces.

Leaders

“Ahmed Umar is the group’s leader. He was inaugurated in 2014, following the assassination of Ahmed Abdi Godane, his predecessor, in a drone strike carried out by the United States. Some commentators feared that Godane’s dismissal would spark a power struggle since Umar lacked Godane’s strategic expertise and would be unable to maintain control over the split group if Godane was fired” (Felter et al., 2021).

Al Shabaab’s Public Perception

When individuals feel wronged, they turn to Al-Shabaab, believing that the state is at fault for their plight. A loved one’s death at the hands of the police is a critical turning point in the lives of mothers and children (Badurdeen, 2021). Some women join extremist networks due to the killings of their spouses, fiancés, or sons at the hands of the state security forces. In addition, other people join the militia mentioned above because they believe Muslims are being marginalized globally.

References

Badurdeen, F. (2021). Why we did it: The Kenyan women and girls who joined Al-Shabaab. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-we-did-it-the-kenyan-women-and-girls-who-joined-al-shabaab-151592

 Felter, C., Masters, J., & Sergie, M. (2021). Al-Shabab. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabab#chapter-title-0-5

Harrington, J., & Thompson, J. (2021). Examining Extremism: Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahideen (al Shabaab) – Somali Times. Somali Times. https://www.somalitimes.co.uk/examining-extremism-harakat-al-shabaab-al-mujahideen-al-shabaab/

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Why we did it: the Kenyan women and girls who joined Al …. https://theconversation.com/why-we-did-it-the-kenyan-women-and-girls-who-joined-al-shabaab-151592