The
original name of the group of al-Shabaab is “Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen
(HSM)” meaning “Mujahedeen Youth Movement” in Arabic, shortly known as “al-Shabaab”,
meaning “The Youth”. The group was established in 2004 as the militant wing of
the Union of the Islamic Courts (UIC). The group particularly targets the
government buildings of Somalia, the military troops of Ethiopia, the African
Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the international
peacekeeping operations deployed in the country. The group also attacks on the
strategic interests of the West in and out of Somalia. Importantly, it
particularly threatens Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and the countries that have sent
soldiers to the AMISOM. In March 2008, the US adopted the group of Al-Shabaab
as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). In February 2010, the group
announced that it merged with Al-Qaeda.[1]
With
the official merging with the al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab has developed a global
vision and increased its popularity in East Africa and in the world.
Particularly, the group had a nationalistic view in the early years of the
group. The collaboration between al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab in the beginning of
2010 provided a more dynamism for the group.[2] According
to Rob,[3]
the partnership with al-Shabaah has increased the sphere of influence of
al-Qeada, while al-Shabaab has strengthened its legitimacy and financial
structure with this partnership.
Al-Sabaab did its first attacks outside of Somalia in Uganda in July
2010, killed more than 70 persons. It is important to note that Uganda was the
first country sending its troops and has maintained the largest military troops
at the AMISOM since July 2013. Its first attack on Uganda also showed that the
group has developed a more global vision to gain support and legitimacy.
The
international community has paid a great deal of attention of the activities of
the Al-Shabaab after it attacked the civilians at a shopping mall in Nairobi in
September 2013, killed 59 persons. Al-Shabaab claimed that the group targeted
the civilians in Kenya due to the fact that Kenya intervened militarily in the
southern Somalia in October 2011 and also it has the four thousand Kenyan
soldiers in Somalia working within the framework of the African Union Mission
in Somalia (AMISOM).[4]
After this attack, al-Shabaab became more apparent and gained more recognition
in East Africa and in the world. Hasan Aweys is the spiritual leader of the
group, who was a colonel during the regime of Siad Biarre and fought against
Ethiopia in the 1970s. Ahmed Abdi Godane has served as the leader of the group
of Al-Sabaab since 2008. The group has controlled over the most of the southern
and central Somalia. The main targets of the al-Sbabaab are to topple the
Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) established in August in 2012, to take
control over the whole country, unite the Somali-inhabited regions in Kenya and
Ethiopia, and to create an Islamic state.[5]
Its
history can be traced back to the establishment of the Al-Ittihad al Islamiya
(AIAI), which was formed to topple the regime of Siad Barre and create an
Islamic State. In 1984, the AIAI emerged with the uniting of the two important
groups in Somalia, namely Wahdat Al Shabab (Unity of Islamic Youth) and Al-Jama'a
Al-Islamiya (Islamic Association). The both groups were created to fight
against the corruption, poverty, the regime of Siad Barre and the Western
policies in the country. Importantly, the military regime of Siad Barre
radicalized and marginalized the Somalis. The Somalis were especially against
the increasing strategic partnerships between the Western powers and the regime
of Siad Barre. After the AIAI became successful in toppling the military regime
of Barre in 1991, it attacked the western region of Ethiopia to annex the
region of Ogaden but failed to do it. On 22 September 1991, the AIAI announced
itself as an official political party of Somalia and began to work as a
political party throughout the country, opened schools, companies, orphanages,
and created jobs and recruited many members for its party. It was
re-established the group to revitalize within the framework of the Union of
Islamic Courts (UIC).[6] On
23 September 2001, the US put the AIAI on the list of its terrorist
organization. It can be said that the AIAI created a political and social
environment for the emergence of the group of al-Shabaab. After the regime of
Siad Barre, Somalia has not succeeded to establish a central government which
maintains lasting law and order. Since 1991, 14 international peace processes
initiated by international and regional actors have been failed. The most
successful one was that a TFG was created in 2006. It can be said that the failure of the
establishment of an effective central government in Somalia has led to the
emergence of al-Shabaab.
In
2006, the UIC controlled over Mogadishu, the largest parts of the southern and
central parts of Somalia. The increasing power of the UIC became a big threat
for the TFG, the neighboring countries, and the strategic interests of the
Western powers in East Africa. In December 2006, the Ethiopian military troops
with the assistance of the US entered the country, defeated the UIC and took
control over Mogadishu. The War in Somalia lasted for the two years between the
UIC and the Ethiopia and the TFG (2006-2009). In January 2009, Ethiopia
withdrew its troops from the country. The military intervention of Ethiopia in
Somalia has led to the emergence of nationalistic movements in Somalia under
the leadership of al-Shabaah and Al-Shabaah became the only fighting force
against the Ethiopian intervention.[7] In
2007, the UIC was divided into different factions, including moderate and
extremists. The moderate group joined the TFG under the leadership Sheikh
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed who became the president of the TFG in 2009. The extremist
group fractured into two main factions, namely Al-Shabaab and Islamic Party
(Hizbul Islam) ruled by Hassan Dahir Aweys. As of 2006, the UIC has increasingly
become a significant political power in south and central Somalia and took full
control of Mogadishu. After the withdrawal of Ethiopia, al-Shabaab has become
the most effective insurgent force in the country.[8]
Importantly,
the intervention of Ethiopian forces in Somalia made the above mentioned two
groups more radicalized and marginalized in the society of Somalia. It is
important to underline that the intervention of Ethiopia has played a
significant role in emerging the group of al-Shabaab. The mentioned groups have ambitiously tended
to fight against the foreign invaders and in particular Al-Sbahaab has
cooperated with different organizations and foreign fighters such al-Qaeda so
as to increase its strategic power, throughout the country and in the region.[9] It
can be argued that al-Shabaab was born as a loose organization composed of the
two important functions. The first one is that it has created its military
identity within the framework of the UIC. The second one is that it has aimed
to gain a political power through the religious courts. It is like that
al-Shabaab will continue to carry out its attacks to destabilize economic and
political stability in the country in order to strengthen their power and gain
legitimacy until the structural problems of Somalia are solved. Poverty,
conflict and war, underdevelopment, corruption have marginalized the society
and contributed to the emergence and the reinforcement of al-Shabaab.
References:
[1] The Guardian,
"Somalia Militant Group al-ShaBaab
Formally Joins al-Qaida", http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/09/somali-al-shabaab-join-al-qaida (4 August 2014).
[2] Homeland
Security Policy Institute, "Somalia's
Al-Shabaab: Down But Not Out", HSPI Issue Brief 22, 2013, p. 12.
[3] Rob,
Wise, "Al Shabaab", Center
for Strategic and International Studies,
2011, p. 6.
[4] Tristan, McConnell, “5 Reasons Al Shabaab Militants Attacked
Kenya”, Globalpost, http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/130926/5-reasons-al-shabaab-attacked-nairobi-kenya-westgate-somalia (13
August 2014).
[5] David, Shinn, “Al Sbahaab’s Foreign Threat to Somalia”,
2011, Foreign Policy Research Institute, p. 203-4.
[6] Abdirrahman “Aynte” Ali, “The Anatomy of al-Shabaab”, unpublished
paper, pp. 11-15.
[8] Homeland
Security Policy Institute, "Somalia's
Al-Shabaab: Down But Not Out", HSPI Issue Brief 22, 2013, pp.
3-4.
[9] David, Shinn, “Al Sbahaab’s Foreign Threat to Somalia”,
2011, Foreign Policy Research Institute, p. 206.
