Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group

210 Pages·2013·0.96 MB·English

by  Stig Jarle Hansen

AL-SHABAAB IN SOMALIA
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STIG JARLE HANSEN
Al-Shabaab in Somalia
The History and Ideology of a
Militant Islamist Group, 2005–2012
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hansen, Stig Jarle.
Al-Shabaab in Somalia : the history and ideology of a militant Islamist group,
2005/2012 / Stig Jarle Hansen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-932787-4 (alk. paper)
1. Shabaab (Organization) 2. Insurgency—Somalia—History—21st century. 3. Terrorism—
Somalia—History—21st century. 4. Somalia—Politics and government—1991– 5. Islam
and politics—Somalia—History. 6. Islamic fundamentalism—Somalia—History. I. Title.
DT407.4.H36 2013
320.557096773—dc23
2012049898
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Chronology ix
Abbreviations xi
Glossary xiii
1. Introduction 1
2. Setting the Stage: The Resurgence of Religion in Somalia 15
3. Origins 19
4. The First Expansive Phase, 2005–06: In the Shadow 31
of the Courts
5. Phoenix from the Ashes: Insurgency (2007–08) 49
6. The Golden Age of Al-Shabaab (2009–10) 73
7. The Era of Troubles (2010– ) 103
8. Lose Some, Win Some? 121
9. Conclusions 139
Notes 143
Bibliography 169
Index 185
v
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FOREWORD
I have been working with Somalia now for over fourteen years, and have
observed the radical change in dynamics—how the warlords of the 1990s
lost power, and how political Islam gained attraction as a mobilizing
force. This book is an attempt to explore how international ideology and
local dynamics fused to produce one of Somalia’s most efficient political
organizations over the last twenty years, which is, at the time of writing,
the only Al-Qaeda affiliate to control a considerable amount of territory.
The collapse and downfall of this organization have continually been pre-
dicted, but it has survived, and remains important today.
I would like to dedicate this book to Ahmed Dei, a friend who started
out as a child soldier in Mogadishu and ended up as an airline manager,
before he was abruptly killed by the local police because he failed to give
them his mobile phone. I have to thank Yahya Ibrahim, Muhamed Gaas,
Brynjar Lia and Thomas Hegghammer for valuable comments, Michele
Cesari for his support, and my family for their patience. This book is
based on a report written for the Norwegian Defence Research Estab-
lishment (FFI), and a report for the Swedish Life and Peace institute,
and previous versions of chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 have appeared therein.
Al-Shabaab today, after the defeat in Kismayo, is weaker than it has been
since 2007, but its influence in the wider East Africa, its previous resil-
ience, and its experience in radical Islamic governance makes its history
important for the wider phenomena of radical Islamism as well future
developments in the Horn of Africa.
Stig Jarle Hansen Oslo, February 2013
vii
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CHRONOLOGY
1998 Al-Qaeda attacks the American embassies in Dar es-Salaam
and Nairobi
2002 Al-Qaeda attacks Paradise Hotel in Mombasa and an air-
craft of the Arkia airline
2003 Killing of a British teacher couple in Somaliland, several
future leaders of Harakat Al-Shabaab are later convicted
for the attack, as well as an attack on a GTZ car in Hargeisa
2002–2005 The shadow wars in Mogadishu
2005 Founding of Harakat Al-Shabaab
2006 The rise and subsequent fall of the Sharia Courts; Ethiopian
intervention/invasion in December
2007 Al-Shabaab praises Osama Bin Laden in public for the
first time, declares independence from the Sharia Courts;
first AMISOM contingent deployed in Mogadishu
2008 Killing of Aden Hasi Ayro by an American missile attack
2009 Ethiopian withdrawal and subsequent Harakat Al-Shabaab
expansion; Al-Shabaab in control of most of southern
Somalia
2010 Defeat in the Ramadan offensive; leadership crisis
2011 Famine and Kenyan intervention; Fazul Abdullah Mohamed
killed in Mogadishu
ix