Witnesses say that al shabaab beheaded civilians during the attack. Hansens remarkable book attempts to go beyond the media headlines and simplistic analyses based on alarmist or localist narratives and, by employing intensive field research conducted within somalia, as well as on the ground interviews with alshabaab leaders themselves, explores the history of a remarkable organisation, one that has. The secret history of al qaedas most powerful allyrecounts the rise, fall, and resurgence of this overlooked terrorist organization and provides an intimate understanding of its connections with al qaeda. Dr hansen welcomed the opportunity to present his book al shabaab in. Radicalisation and alshabaab recruitment in somalia. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read al shabaab in somalia. Al shabaabs foreign threat to somalia by david shinn david shinn is an adjunct professor in the elliott school of international affairs at george washington university. According to the national counterterrorism center, the groups rankandfile members hail from disparate local groups, sometimes recruited by force. The attack was launched to commemorate one anniversary after the groups former leader ahmed abdi godane, who was killed in. The arabic translation of al shabaab is the youth, which relates to the group well since it is largely comprised of somalian youth.
Additional gift options are available when buying one ebook at a time. The secret history of al qaedas most powerful ally. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading inside al shabaab. Al shabaab is an al qaedaaffiliated organization that has risen rapidly to. In seventeen chapters the book by maruf and joseph outlines the emergence and the yearby year developments of al shabaab.
Secret history of al qaedas most powerf ul ally, bloomington. Alshabaab in somalia the history and ideology of a. As a result, his description of events carries a powerful sense of legitimacy. Al shabaab or al shabab ashshabab is an arabic phrase meaning the youth. Al shabaab militant group, a somaliabased cell of the militant islamist group al qaeda al shabab club manama, a football club in bahrain al shabab sc baghdad, a football club in iraq al shabab sc al ahmadi, a football club in kuwait al shabab sc seeb, a football club in oman.
By the end of 2007, alshabaab represented the main armed opposition to the somalian government, conducting an insurgency through suicide attacks and guerrilla tactics. Aqam futures project case study series case study number 2 july 2011 project directors. Read or download now pdf download alshabaab in somalia. It seeks to eliminate sufism from somalia and has opposed various sufi groups. A history of somalias insurgent movement it was formed in 2006 by young men and until recently controlled most of southern somalia. Inside al shabaab is the definitive history of the somali militant group, rich with newly disclosed details about the groups genesis and its ties to al qaeda. Somalia faces a dual development trap which perpetuates instability and exclusion and exposes the country to the risk of backsliding. Fewer than 20 al shabaab militants assaulted camp simba, which was home to around 100 us personnel along with. Alshabaab events in history timeline timetoast timelines. The secret history of al qaedas most powerful ally recounts the rise, fall, and resurgence of this overlooked terrorist organization and provides an intimate understanding of. Alshabaab or al shabab ashshabab is an arabic phrase meaning the youth.
The organisation known as alshabaab originally emerged from the islamic courts union icu movement in somalia. This book reveals insights ive never seen during my 15 years in counterterrorisman excellent work. Aqam futures project case study series july 2011 project. Unlike most of the organizations top leaders, its foot soldiers are primarily concerned with. The us army war college quarterly an intimidatingly impressive book. Maruf, harun, and dan joseph 2018, inside alshabaab. Alshabaab s composition is multiethnic, with its leadership positions mainly occupied by afghanistan and iraqtrained ethnic somalis and foreigners. In june 2016, al shabaab attacked the ambassador hotel in mogadishu and killed 16 people, includ.
Alshabaab also achieved a good degree of international support and funding, mostly through its. It is a golden chance for al shabaab to pick itself up off the mat. Clinton watts, senior fellow, foreign policy research institute inside al shabaab is the definitive history of the somali militant group, rich with newly disclosed details about the groups genesis and its ties to al qaeda. Al shabaab fighters at a somali training camp, in an image taken from a video released by the group in 2009. The number of attacks attributed to al shabaab has increased rapidly from less than 10 in 2007 to more than 800 in 2014. Hansens remarkable book attempts to go beyond the media headlines and simplistic analyses based on alarmist or localist narratives and, by employing intensive field research conducted within somalia, as well as on the ground interviews with shabaab leaders themselves, explores the history of a remarkable organisation, one that has survived. The authors embed the groups history into the larger one of political islam in somalia and beyond. Al shabab formally pledged allegiance to al qaeda in 2012, though ties between them existed since 2008, when the americanborn al qaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap cleric anwar al awlaki released a statement praising al shabab for fighting against the u. The history of alshabaab south african history online. The number of casualties caused by al shabaab increased at an even greater rate. The history and ideology of a militant islamist group, oxford university press, new york, 20. The jihadist group claims to have killed 61 in the assault though somali officials put the death toll at 38. Al shabaab is actually puissant and potent in terms of social. Al shabaab continues to kill civilians across east africa and undermine the viability of somalia.
Al shabaab is portrayed as a resilient group that functions in complex ways which are not in line with a cliche image sometimes drawn about such groups as manned by brainwashed, deathaffine zombies. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading al shabaab in somalia. Foreign service, including as ambassador to ethiopia and state department coordinator for somalia during the international intervention in. Ethiopia, a part of the anti shabaab coalition, is somalias ancient. Beginning in 2006, the group waged an insurgency against somalias transitional federal government tfg alshabaab originated as a militia affiliated with the islamic courts union icu, a federation of local and clan. Harakat al shabaab is somalias infamous though underresearched militant islamist group. Alshabaab events in history timeline created by bekahbaker. The perpetrators were al shabaab, a somalibased islamist terrorist group.
Al shabaab is an extremist militant islamic group that is centralized in somalia. The history and ideology of a militant islamist group ebook written by stig jarle hansen. The history and ideology of a militant islamist group kindle edition by hansen, stig jarle. They also clearly show alshabaabs relevance within the global. Alshabab simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The history and ideology of a militant islamist group, 20052012 article pdf available in african affairs april 2014 with 164 reads how we measure reads. Using existing research and original interviews, this study outlines al shabaab s history. On june 8th, al shabaab fighters attacked a military base in puntland, a semiautonomous region in somalia. The attack comes on the heels of somali authorities recent. Al shabab al arabi club beirut, a lebanese association football club. He has put together a remarkably a remarkably detailed account of al shabaab s history and until the distant and unlikely day when something better comes along, al shabaab in somalia is the definitive book on the subject. More worrying for al shabaab, the united states has learned of links between the group and iran, uganda and eritrean governments20.
The battle took place when al shabaab militants stormed an amisom base in janale when one of its fighters rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into the perimeter of the base, then a team of heavily armed fighters entered the breach and attacked the troops inside. Its a great introduction for those new to the topic, but its also a landmark work and absolutely required reading for. Draws on interviews from former alshabaab militants and commanders, us relat. Featuring interviews with government officials, former alshabaab. The history and ideology of a militant islamist group, 20052012 by stig jarle hansen london. Al shabaab has remained a resilient threat in the horn of africa and one of the few islamist insurgent organizations to seize and maintain territory over. The secret history of al qaedas most powerful ally kindle edition by joseph, dan, maruf, harun. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Drawing from interviews with former al shabaab militants, including highranking officials, military commanders, police. Modern history of al shabaab while much of the icus leadership quickly fled the ad. The official name of the group is harakat alshabaab al mujahideen arabic. The history and ideology of a militant islamist group. Harun maruf and dan joseph provide an insightful account of al shabaab, the extremist organisation fighting in somalia and conducting terror attacks both there and. Forest have determined that al sha baab is aided in its quest by some fundamental realities of somali culture and history.
The camp simba attack was a predawn attack at manda air strip on camp simba on 5 january 2020. This paper examines the funding sources of the terrorist group harakat al shabaab al mujahideen. The history and ideology of a militant islamist group jarle hansen, stig on. This book explores the history of the somalia based al harakat al shabaab from 2005 to 2012, offering the first indetail history of one of the most important al qaeda affiliates today and the first to conquer large territories. Clinton watts, senior fellow, foreign policy research institute inside al shabaab is the definitive history of the somali militant group, rich with newly disclosed details about the groups genesis and its ties to al. The secret history of al qaedas most powerful ally recounts the rise, fall, and resurgence of this overlooked terrorist organization and provides an intimate understanding of its connections with al qaeda. The icu began as a loose grouping of sharia courts that by 2006 had grown into a powerful islamic militia which enjoyed control over much of southern somalia. Al shabaab, as well as outside actors, retain the ability to extract natural resource and protection rents and destabilize the country. As aweys importance grew within the icu, he passed leadership of al shabaab on to one of his followers, aden hashi ayro. Marka has signalled the death knell for al shabaab s domestic territorial integrity. Using previously neglected sources, such as youtube video clips, al shabaab publications, and websites sympathetic to the group, the author highlights the impossibility of studying al shabaab without grasping somali clan politics and the local historical background p.