al-Shabaab (militia)

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Black banner of the al-Shabaab militia (also used by IS )

The Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen ( HSM ; Arabic حركة الشباب المجاهدين, DMG ḥarakat aš-šabāb al-muǧāhidīn  'Movement of the Mujahideen Youth') - al-Shabaab for short ( Arabic الشباب, DMG aš-šabāb  'the youth') is a militant Islamist movement in Somalia . It emerged from the radical and militant wing of the Union of Islamic Courts , which was ousted at the end of 2006. She fought in the Somali civil war against the Ethiopian troops stationed in the country until the beginning of 2009 and fought the transitional government of Somalia and, since its dissolution in August 2012, the Somali state. Al-Shabaab controls parts of southern Somalia and strictly enforces the Sharia there . The group is influenced by Wahhabi . Your goal is to build oneIslamic state in the Horn of Africa and participating in a global jihad . The organization is on the United States State Department's list of designated terrorist organizations overseas . Since 2009 at the latest, al-Shabaab tried to be accepted into the al-Qaeda network , which Osama bin Laden refused until his death because al-Shabaab had accepted the killing of Muslims. In February 2012, Al-Shabaab swore allegiance to Aiman ​​az-Zawahiri , the new leader of al-Qaeda and has since been considered a regional al-Qaida branch. The Islamic State organization , which competes with al-Qaida, is attempting large-scale social media campaigns to persuade Somali jihadists to switch their alliance from al-Qaeda to IS, but so far without success.

development

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Kenyan AMISOM soldier in front of Al-Shabaab logo in Kismaayo 2015.

Al-Shabaab was founded in 2006 after the defeat of the Union of Islamic Courts against Ethiopia by Aden Hashi Ayro , a former defense minister of the Islamist group, as a well-trained and equipped militia within the Union. By 2004 it is said to have comprised around 400 mainly young fighters who adhered to radical Islam. Aden Hashi Ayro is said to have previously visited an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan . Al-Shabaab committed political murders of opponents of the Islamists. In doing so, it is said to have increasingly withdrawn from the control of the rest of the Union of Islamic Courts and developed into an independent, radical group. In the second half of 2006, the Union of Islamic Courts gained control of the state capital Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia. During the subsequent invasion of Ethiopian troops , which ousted the Union in December 2006, al-Shabaab suffered heavy losses. However, it regrouped in Mogadishu. In 2008, al-Shabaab was active in Mogadishu and other parts of southern and central Somalia and, according to an estimate, comprised a few hundred cells with a total of up to 7,000 mainly young fighters. In addition to the Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia and other Islamist and clan-based groups, she participated in the armed struggle for the withdrawal of Ethiopia. In doing so, she claimed leadership within the Somali resistance against Ethiopia and the transitional government. In addition, she strove to establish an Islamic state with the implementation of a strict interpretation of the Sharia .

In March 2008, al-Shabaab was added to the US list of terrorist organizations. In a statement she expressly welcomed this, as she felt that she was "on the right track" and hoped to become more attractive to Islamist fighters from abroad. On the night of May 1, 2008, Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in a US air strike in Dhuusamarreeb . He was succeeded by Mukhtar Robow . On October 29, 2008, suicide bombings in the cities of Hargeisa and Boosaaso took place almost simultaneously in the Somaliland and Puntland areas of northern Somalia . These were directed against the presidential palace, the Ethiopian trade office and the office of the United Nations development program . Nobody confessed to these attacks. Al-Shabaab was suspected of being responsible. Accordingly, she tried to destabilize these two largely autonomous and civil war untouched areas (which maintain good relations with Ethiopia).

In October 2008 there were increasing confrontations with the Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia (ARS), which arose from other (moderate, less radical) parts of the Union of Islamic Courts. While the ARS was holding peace talks with the transitional government and thus achieved the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops, al-Shabaab insisted on the continuation of the armed struggle. In January 2009 the Ethiopian troops left Somalia and the moderate Islamist Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of the ARS was elected as the new president. After the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops, al-Shabaab took the seat of government Baidoa in January 2009 without a fight and advanced into the Bakool region later in 2009 . It was also able to benefit from the widespread opposition to Ethiopia and "the West" (due to the support for the Ethiopian military intervention and the transitional government, some of whose troops attacked civilians) in the Somali population.

On December 3, 2009, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a graduation ceremony at a medical college in Mogadishu. The three ministers Ibrahim Hassan Addow , Mohamed Abdullahi Waayel and Qamar Aden Ali as well as 19 other people - mostly medical students - were killed and more than 60 injured. Al-Shabaab denied responsibility for this attack, but was generally held responsible. Hundreds of people demonstrated against al-Shabaab in Mogadishu. In the leadership of al-Shabaab there are (as of 2009) differences about how to proceed; While a faction led by Mukhtar Robow advocates negotiations with opponents, supporters of Amir Sheikh Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Subeyr , who is allegedly supported by 1,200 foreign jihadists (see below) , advocate further escalation of the conflict until the whole of Somalia is under their rule . At the end of December 2010, Hezbul Islam announced that it would merge with al-Shabaab.

At the end of July 2011, Amisom troops drove Al-Shabaab fighters from Mogadishu. Most of the fighters settled in the Shabeellaha Hoose area.

construction

In addition to its military strength, one reason for the success of al-Shabaab was the relatively good equipment and training of its fighters. These were held together by ideological similarities rather than changeable clan alliances. However, some cells are also said to exist in clan militias of the powerful Habar Gedir Hawiye clan, who now call themselves Islamists. The individual cells are loyal to the leadership of al-Shabaab to varying degrees. There have been various fights with the allied Hezbul Islam over power sharing. Hisbul Islam is also Islamist, albeit more Somali nationalist rather than global jihad like al-Shabaab.

Rule and implementation of the Sharia

The area in Somalia controlled by al-Shabaab. Left in January 2009, right in December 2010

Al-Shabaab has taken control of parts of southern Somalia. With the help of the AMISOM troops of the African Union , the transitional government controls Mogadishu with the port, the airport, the presidential palace and some military camps.

In the areas it controls, al-Shabaab enforces a strict interpretation of the Shari'a . This varies locally, but in general goes far beyond its traditional application in Somalia and restricts the freedom of the population. A visit to a mosque is prescribed for the five daily prayers . Cigarette smoking and chewing Kat were prohibited, as football, cinemas, non-religious music and dancing at weddings. Men are not allowed to wear "western" hairstyles and have to let their beard grow. Women are put under pressure to wear dark dresses ( abayas ) with face veils instead of the usual colored robes . Poor women sometimes cannot afford such a garment because abayas are expensive to import. Al-Shabaab also restricts women's freedom of movement by forbidding them to work in public (for example in markets), to move around without a male relative as a companion, or to speak to strange men. In some places were bra banned as "deception" or mandatory coverage of hands and feet with gloves and socks. Violations of such regulations are punishable by flogging, fines or (for men) shaving the head without going to court.

Al-Shabaab has carried out several public executions and amputations as punishments for alleged theft, extramarital sex and “ apostasy ”. In particular, the stoning of a girl in Kismayo in October 2008 who was accused of adultery caused a stir . According to relatives, the 13-year-old had been raped and tried to report the crime to al-Shabaab security forces, but was then arrested, accused of illegitimate sex and publicly executed. In 2009 a woman was stoned to death for adultery in a village near Wajid and her lover was flogged. In Merka , a man was stoned to death for the same offense, while his pregnant girlfriend was to await the birth. In the same city, two men were stoned on charges of espionage. On October 27, 2010, two girls were shot dead in Beledweyne for allegedly spying for Ethiopia. Often people are forced to watch the executions and amputations.

People suspected of being in contact with or cooperating with enemies were threatened and attacked in areas controlled by al-Shabaab. In January 2009, a local politician in Kismayo was executed for " apostasy from Islam " for working with warlord Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale , who in turn was cooperating with Ethiopia. Journalists are harassed and cannot go about their jobs freely. In addition, al-Shabaab wants to “cleanse” the country of the very small Christian minority, at least a dozen Christian Somalis were killed in 2009 alone. Some al-Shabaab cells also attack Somalis working for foreign humanitarian organizations, while other cells provide shelter for the delivery of humanitarian aid. In January 2010 the World Food Program (WFP) announced that it would have to stop helping hundreds of thousands of Somalis. Previously, parts of al-Shabaab had made demands that the WFP pay a "security fee" of US $ 20,000 every six months and fire most of the female employees. Al-Shabaab also criticizes the fact that the import of food aid is competing with Somali agriculture, but according to the WFP, the production of Somali farmers in recent years has not been sufficient to meet the demand on its own.

Al-Shabaab also opposes the worship of saints common in Somalia and has destroyed shrines of Islamic saints in southern Somalia.

To a greater extent than other warring factions, al-Shabaab recruits children and young people as fighters. According to a National Geographic report , al-Shabaab in Mogadishu offers young fighters a salary of US $ 150 a month, making it a lucrative employer in a city that has no formal labor market. Recruiting bonuses of 400 US dollars are a considerable incentive, especially for young people from poor families. In Kismayo, al-Shabaab held a competition for young people in which weapons could be won in order to win participants for the “holy war against the enemies of Allah”.

Al-Shabaab is met with a certain approval by the Somali population, as it ensures security after years of civil war and in some cases pays money for pensioners and widows. On the other hand, the significant interference in everyday life causes displeasure. In central Somalia, a moderate Islamist, Sufist group called Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama formed to fight al-Shabaab. This group has recaptured Dhuusamarreeb in central Somalia from al-Shabaab and is now working with the transitional government. In the Medina district of Mogadishu, the local clan organized successfully to oust al-Shabaab.

On January 9, 2014, al-Shabaab banned the use of the Internet for all citizens in the areas they controlled in central and southern Somalia . Those who oppose this are seen "as an enemy" and " treated according to Sharia law ".

External support and activities abroad

Al-Shabaab also recruits Islamists from abroad, but it is difficult to assess their number and importance for the organization. In addition to returning Somalis in exile from the USA (including three US citizens of Somali origin who perished in Somalia), Pakistani, Afghans and Chechens are said to fight by their side. US intelligence agencies suspect a secret network that attracted fighters to al-Shabaab and report that dozens of Somalis have disappeared from Minneapolis (which is home to half of all Somalis in the US). Their motivation is said to have been primarily the mixture of Somali nationalism, religious radicalization and anger over the invasion of Ethiopia.

Since the withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops, the organization has increasingly directed its rhetoric towards global jihad in order to win over Islamists from all over the world. It threatened attacks in Uganda and Burundi because these countries are providing soldiers for the AMISOM troops for the benefit of the transitional government. Al-Shabaab fighters can penetrate neighboring Kenya largely unhindered . They are said to have recruited dozens of young Somalis from the refugee camps there for a premium of 300 US dollars each, and they are also trying to address Somalis in exile in Nairobi and (with salary promises of 600 US dollars per month) the native Somali in the northeast region . They threatened to carry out attacks in Nairobi. There are also contacts with al-Qaeda groups, and al-Shabaab has announced that it will be sending fighters to Yemen . At a meeting in Baidoa at the end of January 2010, the militia leaders of al-Shabaab Mohamed Abdi Godane and Sheikh Muktar Robow, as well as other Islamist groups, adopted a declaration in which the jihad in Somalia was described as part of the jihad of al-Qaeda. They want to establish a God state together in the Horn of Africa.

Eritrea , which is hostile to Ethiopia, is said to support al-Shabaab with arms deliveries. The Eritrean government has repeatedly denied these allegations. However, they are confirmed by statements made by Shabaab members in Somalia. Weapons are therefore bought from neighboring Kenya and delivered from Eritrea via the port city of Kismayo .

Attacks committed by al-Shabaab

The following list is not complete, but represents a selection. (See also list of terrorist attacks in Somalia )

2010

On January 1, 2010, a Somali man with ties to al-Shabaab broke into the home of the Danish Mohammed cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and tried to kill him. He was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison in early February 2011 and subsequently expelled from Denmark. The defender put appeal against the judgment.

During the final of the soccer World Cup on July 11, 2010, bombs exploded in two restaurants in the vicinity of the Ugandan capital, Kampala . According to official information, at least 74 people died. A spokesman for al-Shabaab confessed to the attacks and announced further attacks in Uganda and Burundi.

2013

According to German security authorities, a convert was involved in the preparations for the attack on the shopping center in Nairobi .

On September 21, 2013, al-Shabaab known to the Westgate Shopping Mall Shooting in Kenya Nairobi that killed at least 68 people and several hundred people were injured. Al-Shabaab cited the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia as the reason for the attack.

On December 14, 2013, four people died in a grenade attack on a regional bus in the Somali-populated Eastleigh district of Nairobi . The attack took place in front of the Pangani Police Station, which was manned by 32 people at the time of the attack.

2014

On 23 March 2014, two assassins perpetrated the militia an attack on the Catholic Church Joy Jesus Church in Likoni , killing two people.

On March 31, 2014, six people died in a hand grenade explosion in Nairobi . The grenade attacks occurred in the Eastleigh neighborhood, which is inhabited by Somalis .

On May 3, 2014, at least three people died in two attacks in Mombasa . Supporters of the organization threw grenades at a fully occupied bus on the Mwembe Tayari market square, and a self-made explosive device detonated in front of the Reef Hotel in the Nyali district .

On May 5, 2014, two suicide bombers set off several bombs in two full buses on Thika Road in Nairobi. Six people died and 62 others were injured in the attacks.

On May 16, 2014, at least four people were killed in a bomb attack on the market square in Gikomba , Nairobi . The militant supporters of the militia also threw hand grenades at the refugees and wounded 10 other people in the process. The Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta then called for a fight against the militia.

On May 24, 2014, supporters of the terrorist organizations carried out a bomb attack on the government district of Mogadishu. Shots were also fired in front of several embassies and the Somalia federal parliament .

On May 25, 2014, fighters attacked the La Chaumiere restaurant in Djibouti with hand grenades, killing two people. 11 other people were wounded in the attack at 8 p.m. local time.

A loss-making attack occurred on June 15, 2014 in the Kenyan coastal town of Mpeketoni , when al-Shabaab militias attacked several hotels and a police station. At least 48 people died. In contrast to previous similar campaigns, women and children were largely spared. Al-Shabaab said the action was a revenge for Kenyan troops standing in Somalia and killing Muslims there.

On December 25, 2014, five al-Shabaab militiamen disguised as Somali soldiers broke into the headquarters of the African Union forces in Mogadishu and killed 4 soldiers and one civilian. On July 4, 2014, a car bomb exploded outside the Somali parliament and four people were killed.

On July 5, 2014, 9 people died in an attack on a police station in County Tana River, Kenya.

On July 6, 2014, al-Shabaab carried out an attack in Hindi, Lamu County, Kenya, killing 29 people.

On November 22, 2014, al-Shabaab militias stopped a bus in Mandera district, Kenya, killing all non-Muslim bus occupants. The act of terrorism claimed at least 28 people dead. One of the bus occupants was only injured and pretended to be dead so that he could later report the incident. After the bus was forced to stop by the militia with gunfire and hand grenades, the bus was hijacked to a remote area until it finally got stuck in the mud and could no longer be floated. All bus occupants had to get off, were separated into Somalis and non-Somali Kenyans and every non-Somali man was broken by being trapped in the bus door while getting off the bus. Afterwards, the bus occupants were asked to quote the Koran. Those who were unable to do so had to lie down on the ground and were later shot.

2015

On February 20, 2015, al-Shabaab fighters attacked the Central Hotel in Mogadishu, which is often frequented by politicians, with a car bomb and opened fire in the mosque there during Friday prayers . Twenty people died, including the vice mayor of Mogadishu. The deputy head of government and the transport minister were injured.

On March 27, 2015, there was another attack on a hotel in Mogadishu, the Maka al-Mukarama Hotel, which is often frequented by politicians . Ten people died in the attack, including the Somali ambassador to Switzerland and the United Nations MP Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari.

On April 2, 2015 , a group of assassins attacked the campus of Garissa University College in Garissa , Garissa County , and took hostages. In the course of this, the campus was stormed by special forces. According to the Kenyan government, the attack and the ensuing fighting claimed nearly 150 lives. Al-Shabab leader Mohamed Mohamud Kuno alias Dulyadin was held responsible by security forces as the mastermind behind the attack. According to investigators, he was a teacher and principal at the Madrasa Najah in Garissa from 1997 to 2000 .

On April 14, 2015, the building that houses the Somali Ministry of Higher Education and other institutions in Mogadishu was the target of an attack. First, a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the building and then armed al-Shabaab militiamen broke into the building. The attack claimed at least 10 lives.

On the night of June 20, 2015, the Al-Shabaab militia raided a police station in southern Somalia. 8 to 12 police officers and 10 insurgents were probably killed. The members of the Al-Shabaab militia were killed by the security forces while attempting to escape with three stolen pick-ups , one of them with a mounted machine gun.

On June 26, 2015, Al-Shabaab fighters attacked an African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) base near Lego , Somalia. Up to 50 AMISOM members were killed in the attack. Al-Shabaab militiamen captured numerous weapons and military equipment.

On the night of July 7, 2015, at least 14 people were killed in shootings and explosions near a military camp in the Mandera district of northeast Kenya. Those killed were workers in a nearby quarry. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

On July 10, 2015, at least seven people died in bomb attacks on the Weheliye Hotel and Siyaad City Hotel in Mogadishu . Five civilians are among the dead, and 15 others are injured in the attacks.

On July 27, 2015, a bomb explosion near the Jazeera Palace Hotel at Mogadishu Airport killed at least 13 people and injured 40 others. Al-Shabaab took responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to attacks by African Union forces and the Somali regular army.

On September 1, 2015, al-Shabaab fighters attacked a base of the African Union (AU) troops in Janaale , about 90 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. Around 70 AU soldiers were killed in the attack.

On December 21, 2015, al-Shabaab militiamen attacked a bus in Mandera District, Kenya. Since the Muslim bus occupants refused to be separated from their Christian fellow travelers and acted as human shields for them, only two fatalities occurred. Kenyan politicians then praised the courage of the bus occupants. The incident was seen by journalists as a possible indication that the predominantly Muslim-Somali population of northern Kenya is increasingly distancing itself from al-Shabaab. In the past, the terrorist acts carried out by al-Shabaab have resulted in numerous teachers and medical staff fleeing the region, which the local population would feel.

2016

On January 15, 2016, al-Shabaab fighters captured an African Union troop base in the Somali town of el-Ade. According to al-Shabaab, more than 60 Kenyan soldiers were killed. The Kenyan military denied that the number of those killed was so high, but initially did not publish exact figures.

On January 22, 2016, al-Shabaab militiamen stormed the Beach View Hotel and the nearby Lido Seafood Restaurant in Mogadishu and randomly opened fire on everyone present. Many of the wounded, most of them Somali civilians, died later, increasing the total number of fatalities from an initially reported 20 to more than 40.

On February 2, 2016, an explosion occurred on board Daallo Airlines Flight 159 , a scheduled flight from Mogadishu to Djibouti , which tore a 1 × 2 meter hole in the outer shell of the aircraft. The pilot was able to turn around and land the plane safely back in Mogadishu. It was initially unclear whether it was a bomb attack or a technical problem. Al-Shabaab did not comment on this. According to the official investigation report of February 6, 2016, it was a bomb explosion. On February 13, 2016, al-Shabaab confessed to the bombing, which was the group's first attack on an airplane.

On February 5, 2016, Al-Shabaab fighters, according to residents, seized the Somali port city of Merka , which was previously under the control of AMISOM forces. However, spokesmen for the African Union denied that the AMISOM troops had lost control and spoke of a "realignment of positions".

On February 26, 2016, al-Shabaab militiamen attempted to storm the Somali Youth League (SYL) hotel in Mogadishu, which was frequented by government officials. Nine people were killed, including the attackers.

Situation in November 2016

On April 26, 2016, al-Shabaab fighters attacked a Somali army base in Daynuunay around 200 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu. At least 6 soldiers and, according to the Somali military, 10 al-Shabaab fighters were killed.

On June 9, 2016, al-Shabaab militiamen attacked the AMISOM base in Halgan, about 260 kilometers north of Mogadishu, which was mainly manned by Ethiopian soldiers. The subsequent information on the course of the event varied widely. While the Somali security minister spoke of 240 terrorists killed and AMISOM named 110 killed militiamen and denied its own deaths, al-Shabaab claimed that 60 Ethiopian soldiers were killed in the attack.

On October 25, 2016, at least 12 people died in an attack in Kenya on the Boshari Hotel in Mandera , on the border with Somalia and Ethiopia . At least 10 attackers were involved in the attack. All 12 dead and four injured in the hotel were foreign tourists.

At least 16 people died in a car bomb attack attributed to al-Shabaab in Mogadishu on December 11, 2016.

2017

At least 28 people died in a car bomb attack on a hotel in Mogadishu on January 25, 2017. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. Another car bomb explosion in the Madina district of Mogadishu on February 19, 2017 left at least 16 people dead and 40 injured. Here, too, al-Shabaab was held responsible. On September 11, 2017, al-Shabaab militiamen attacked a Somali military base in Beled Hawa, near the border with Kenya. According to the militia, 30 soldiers died. The Somali army spoke of 8 fatalities.

On October 14, 2017, the worst attack of the last decade occurred in Mogadishu, for which al-Shabaab was blamed when a truck packed with explosives exploded in front of the entrance to the Safari Hotel . According to local police, at least 320 people died and hundreds were injured, some seriously. Another bomb explosion in the Madina district on the same day also killed people. Expressions of solidarity and offers of humanitarian aid were then received in Somalia from all over the world. In Mogadishu there were spontaneous demonstrations by the population against the al-Shabaab terror. The death toll was given as 358 on October 20, 2017.

Two weeks later, on October 28, 2017, two more bombs exploded in Mogadishu , which al-Shabaab professed to be. One explosion occurred in front of a hotel and another in front of the former parliament building. There were at least 20 fatalities.

2019

On January 15, 2019, armed fighters from Al-Shabaab attacked a hotel in Nairobi .

2020

In January 2020, they killed three Americans in an attack on the Kenyan military base Manda Bay . On August 16, an Al-Shabaab squad attacked a hotel in Mogadishu. After a suicide bomber blew open the gates of the facility with a car bomb, four terrorists stormed the hotel and took hostages. All Al-Shabaab fighters and 11 civilians were killed in a three-hour gun battle with military units.

Military action against al-Shabaab

Most Wanted Al-Shabaab Terrorists (2014)
Surname Role in
al-Shabaab 		Suspended
reward
Ibrahim Haji Jama Co-founder US $ 5 million
Fuad Mohamed Khalaf ("Shongole") financier US $ 5 million
Bashir Mohamed Mahamoud military leader US $ 5 million
Mukhtar Robow ("Abu Mansur") speaker US $ 5 million
Zakariya Ismail Ahmed Hersi Chief of espionage and reconnaissance
(arrested or defected
on Dec. 27, 2014)		 $ 3 million
Abdullahi "Yare" Leader $ 3 million

On July 17, 2014, the Fides agency reported that the Kenyan army had destroyed four Al-Shabaab encampments near the city of Lamu on the island of the same name .

In August 2014, US forces reported an air strike against Al-Shabaab. Somali government soldiers and African Union (AU) troops captured the city of Bulomar. As a result, the secret service headquarters in the capital Mogadishu was attacked by Al-Shabaab fighters.

On September 1, 2014, Al-Shabaab's leader Ahmed Abdi Godane was killed in a US air strike south of Mogadishu. A few days later, Ahmad Umar , also known as Abu Ubaidah, was proclaimed his successor.

On October 5, 2014, the capture of the port city of Baraawe , about 125 km southwest of Mogadishu, by the Somali army, supported by troops from the African Union , was announced. As a result, an essential supply base and an export port were lost for Al-Shabaab.

On December 27, 2014, one of the leaders of al-Shabaab, Zakariya Ahmed Ismail Hersi , who was captured by the United States in June 2012 with a US $ 3 million reward, was arrested without a fight in a house near the Kenyan border. In a later interview with the BBC on December 23, 2015, Hersi, who had fallen out with al-Shabaab leader Godane in 2013 and now lives as a free man in a house in Mogadishu under the protection of the Somali government, described the events so that he broke away from al-Shabaab. He did not approve of the acts of violence against the civilian population; they were "unlawful", "wrong" and "brutal". His original goal when he joined al-Shabaab was to fight the Ethiopian invaders who invaded Somalia.

Aden Garar, one of the main people responsible for the attack on the shopping center in Kenya, was killed in a US drone attack on a car on March 12, 2015 near Baardheere , about 150 miles west of Mogadishu .

In response to the attack on Garissa University College on April 2, 2015, the Kenyan air force reportedly bombed al-Shabaab bases in Somalia on April 6, 2015.

On July 22, 2015, Somali and African Union forces occupied the city of Baardheere , previously under the control of Al-Shabaab. According to reports from city residents, two Al-Shabaab commanders had been killed by a drone attack the week before.

On March 7, 2016, US air forces and US drones attacked Raso , an al-Shabaab training camp about 195 kilometers north of Mogadishu. According to a spokesman for the Pentagon, around 150 al-Shabaab militiamen were killed. Al-Shabaab spokesmen disputed the information about the casualties. Such a large number of fighters would never gather in one place because of the danger of air strikes. On the same day, the Australian frigate HMAS Darwin (FFG 04) landed a fishing boat off the coast of Oman, which had a large load of weapons on board and was headed for Somalia.

A few days later, special forces of the US armed forces attacked a house in which al-Shabaab members are said to have been. A spokesman for the US armed forces only confirmed that 10 al-Shabaab fighters had been killed in an attack, while Somali security sources said that the aim of the operation was to arrest an unnamed high-ranking member of the militia, who was in the Fight was killed.

On March 29, 2016, the French Navy landed a ship in the northern Indian Ocean with large quantities of assault rifles and anti-tank weapons on board and headed for the Somali coast.

On April 14, 2017, the US government announced that a few dozen American soldiers would be sent to Somalia to support the Somali military in the fight against terrorism. This was the first regular soldier deployment since US forces withdrew from Somalia in 1994.

According to the US Africa Command, more than 100 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed in an air strike by US forces on an Al-Shabaab training camp on November 21, 2017 . In a "precision" air strike by the US armed forces on October 12, 2018, around 60 Al-Shabaab fighters were killed without killing civilians, according to US figures.

See also

Web links

Commons : al-Shabaab (militia)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Stig Jarle Hansen: Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group, 2005–2012 . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013, ISBN 978-0-19-932787-4 .
  • Oliver Stuke: Islamism in the Horn of Africa. Al-Shabaab's role in the development of Somalia. Frankfurt / Main 2011.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Somalia rebel groups 'merge' , in: Al Jazeera English , December 25, 2010
  2. ↑ Interview with Shabaab commander Muhammad Abu Hanifa in zenith - magazine for the Orient from spring 2010
  3. ↑ Foreign Terrorist Organizations . US Department of State. January 27, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  4. ↑ http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2013/09/29/terrorists-used-new-tactic-to-spare-some-muslims
  5. ↑ http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/09/world/africa/somalia-shabaab-qaeda/
  6. ↑ Forgotten Jihad in East Africa. In: derStandard.at. November 7, 2015, accessed December 3, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Ken Menkhaus: Understanding State Failure in Somalia: Internal and External Dimensions. In: Heinrich Böll Foundation (Ed.): Somalia. Old conflicts and new opportunities for state building (= writings on democracy. 6). Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-927760-79-0 , pp. 32–57, here pp. 46–47.
  8. ↑ BBC News: Deadly car bombs hit Somaliland
  9. ↑ Garowe Online: Somalia: Somaliland police search for clues after terror attacks ( Memento from September 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  10. ↑ Garowe Online: Somaliland govt blames al Shabaab for suicide bombings ( Memento from July 30, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  11. ↑ Garowe Online: Somalia: Islamic Courts, al Shabaab 'on verge of war' ( Memento from July 31, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  12. ↑ a b c BBC News: Somali president faces tough task
  13. ↑ Somalia: Al Shabaab attacks border town, 21 killed ( Memento from September 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), in: Garowe Online, September 21, 2009
  14. ^ A b c Ken Menkhaus: Somalia: 'They Created a Desert and Called it Peace (building)'. In: Review of African Political Economy. Vol. 36, No. 120, 2009, pp. 223-233, doi: 10.1080 / 03056240903083136 .
  15. ↑ Somalis rally against al-Shabab Islamists and bombing , in: BBC News, December 7, 2009
  16. ^ Ideologial differences splits Somalia's Al-Shabaab ( Memento of December 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) , in: Garowe Online, December 20, 2009
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