| INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST SYMBOLS DATABASE |
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| Al Shabaab |
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Description: A green circle with a yellow banner on top reads, in Arabic, “the Movement of the Shabaab Mujahideen.” The center image includes a map of the Horn of Africa, an open Qur’an and two crossed AK-47 rifles. Above the Qur’an is the Islamic declaration of faith, “There is no God but the God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” The bottom banner reads, “The Army of Hardship in Somalia.”
Explanation: The map of the Horn of Africa at the center of the symbol depicts Al Shabaab’s primary geographical location. The Qur’an highlights the group’s goal to establish an Islamic state in Somalia by ridding the country of Ethiopian and outside forces, as well as the centrality of Islam to the group’s ideology. The rifles symbolize the group’s commitment to violent jihad, while the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith above them, underline Al Shabaab’s commitment and devotion to Islam. The Arabic words at the bottom of the symbol, “the army of hardship in Somalia,” allude to the “army of hardship” that was victorious in the battle of Badr against the Meccan disbelievers during the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
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| Name Variations | Overview | Focus of Operations | Major Attacks | Leaders | Ideology | Goals | Methods | Sponsors | U.S.- Related Activities | |
Name Variations
Al Shabab, Harakat Shabaab Al Mujahidin, Mujahidin Al Shabaab Movement, the Youth, Mujahideen Youth Movement, Hizbul Shabaab, Al Shabaab al-Islamiya, Youth Wing, Al Shabaab al Islam, Al Shabaab al Jihaad, the Unity of Islamic Youth.
Overview
Al Shabaab (Arabic for “the youth”), an Islamic militant group that seeks to create an Islamic state in Somalia, formed in 2004 as the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a network of Islamist militant tribes that controlled southern and central Somalia. Al Shabaab has waged an insurgency against Somalia’s transitional governments and its Ethiopian supporters since the ICU lost power in December 2006. Fighting between Al Shabaab and Somali government forces have flared since May 2009.
Although the group primarily targets Somali governmental officials and Ethiopian military forces, it has also conducted attacks against African Union Mission forces and international peacekeepers inside Somalia. Since the U.S. designated Al Shabaab a Foreign Terrorist Organization in October 2008, the group has also stated its intent to target Western interests both inside and outside Somalia. In April 2009, Al Shabaab fired mortar shells at a U.S. congressman as his plane lifted off from a Somalia airport.
Al Shabaab has also declared an “open battle” against Israel, which it deems the “oppressing Zionist entity,” and Jewish interests in Africa. In November 2009, the terrorist organization announced the establishment of Al Quds Brigade, a military unit specifically tasked with attacking Israel and freeing “Islamic holy places” from the Israelis.
Al Shabaab, which controls much of southern Somalia, is comprised of both local Somalis and recruits from overseas, including Somali youth from the U.S. Estimates of the group’s size range from 3,000 to 7,000.
Al Shabaab is nominally led by Shekh Mohamed Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr, although experts in the U.S. believe a core group of senior leaders guide the group’s actions. This leadership is divided into three geographical units: Somalia’s Bay and Bokool regions; south-central Somalia and Mogadishu; and Puntland and Somaliland.
Al Shabaab shares ideological ties with Al Qaeda and is linked to the international terrorist network through leadership contacts, training and joint operations in the Horn of Africa, according to U.S. officials. In September 2008, Al Shabaab released a video pledging allegiance to Osama bin Laden. Ayman al Zawahiri praised Al Shabaab in a video released in February 2009, and Osama bin Laden released an audio message in March 2009 in which he urged mujahideen to “continue their steps on the path of Jihad” by overthrowing Somalia's new president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
Focus of Operations
Somalia
Major Attacks
- February 22, 2009: Suicide car bombing against an African Union military base in Mogadishu: 11 killed.
- October 29, 2008: Suicide bombings at the United Nations compound, the Ethiopian Consulate, and the Presidential palace in Hargesis: 24 killed.
- October 6, 2008: Mortar aimed at the presidential palace in Mogadishu struck a marketplace: 17 killed.
- September 3, 2008: Attack on the Somalia presidential compound: 15 killed, 25 injured.
- February 5, 2008: Twin bombings in the port city of Bossaso: 25 killed, at least 70 injured.
- January 24, 2008:: Suicide car bombing near an African Union base: 13 killed.
Leaders
- Founder and Leader: Ahmed Abdi aw-Mohamed, a.k.a. Sheikh Mohamed Mukhtar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr
- Leader: Issa Osman Issa
- Spokesperson: Ali Mahmud Ragi, a.k.a. Ali Dheere
- Leader of Al Quds Brigade: Abdifatah Aweys Abu Hamza
- Former Leader: Aden Hashi Ayro (killed May 1, 2008 in U.S. airstrike)
- Former Spokesperson: Mukhtar Robow, a.k.a. Abu Mansour Mukhtar Rabow
Ideology
Al Shabaab shares ideological ties with Al Qaeda and espouses a strict form of Salafi Islam that stresses a literal and rigid reading of the Quran. It upholds the belief that present-day Muslims must return Islam to the way the religion was practiced during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Al Shabaab spokesman Abu Mansour Mukhtar Rabow has indicated that the group rejects all forms of governance other than shari’a, or Islamic law. In May 2008, Rabow said that the group seeks to establish an Islamic state in Somalia through “jihad against the apostates [and] regimes aiding the Crusaders’ proxy war against Muslims.”
Goals
Creating an Islamic state in Somalia by ridding the country of foreigners and outside influences. Since the group has declared its intention to target Western interests, it may also have ambitions outside Somalia’s borders.
Methods
Al Shabaab uses guerilla tactics to conduct suicide bombings, small-arms attacks, remote-controlled roadside bombings and assassinations. In 2008, Al Shabaab began using political strategies to reach out to the Somali public with a series of well-choreographed town visits.
Sponsors
Al Shabaab is dependent on fundraising among the global Somali diaspora, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Somalis abroad utilize the hawala system, which legally transfers money across borders using a network of individuals on an honor code instead of banks with traceable records, to provide the terrorist group with money and resources.
U.S.-Related Activities
- Al Shabaab has released propaganda videos specifically geared towards recruiting U.S.-based Muslims. In April 2009, a video featuring men who identified themselves as Americans fighting in southern Somalia surfaced on Islamist websites. The alleged Americans insist that "many" Somali-Americans are "all over Somalia to join the jihad."
- Al Shabaab has released numerous videos featuring Abu Mansour al Amriki, an alleged U.S. citizen who is currently fighting with the group in Somalia.
- Approximately 20 Somali men from the U.S. have joined Al Shabaab in Somalia since 2006, according to U.S. authorities.
- Shirwa Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen who left Minnesota for Somalia in August 2008, was one of five terrorists who carried out an October 2008 suicide attack on the United Nations compound, the Ethiopian Consulate and the presidential palace in Hargesis, killing 24 people. Ahmed is reportedly the first known American suicide bomber.
- Designated by the U.S. as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in October 2008
- Ruben Shumpert, who authorities suspect was working with Al Shabaab, was killed in a 2008 missile strike in Somalia. Shumpert, a Muslim convert from Seattle, allegedly fled to Somalia in 2006 while free on bond after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm and transferring counterfeit U.S. currency.
- In July 2007, Daniel J. Maldonado, the first U.S. citizen charged with participating in terrorist activities in Somalia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for training with the ICU.
- In 2005, Mark Robert Walker was sentenced to two years in prison for attempting to provide goods and services to Al Ittihad Al Islami, a now dismantled Somali terrorist group formerly allied with Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda.
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