The united states institute of peace is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution. Somali piracy and terrorism in the horn of africa global. During the 1990s, jihadism in somalia was synonymous with alitihaad alislaami, a band of wahhabi militants determined to establish an islamic emirate in the country. Background report alshabaab attack on garissa university in. Though ethiopian troops were able to push al shabaab into the south of the country, they failed to eliminate the group. Although the rise of alshabaab and the recurrent terrorist attacks in somalia and kenya have dominated news headlines and in ternational counterterrorist efforts, other countries in the region have been and continue to be affected by extreme forms of violence. The horn of africa has gained notoriety as a breeding ground for violent extremism. The operations of alshabaab that include terrorist training camps and the islamic courts union camps are furthering the ideas, rules and the law of the alshabaab. It was reported that at least 26 people were killed and over 50 injured.
Somalia, where the countrys nascent security forces and au peacekeepers face a complex insurgency waged by, among others, al shabaab, a local group linked to al qaeda that often resorts to terrorist tactics. Efforts to weaken the al qaidalinked terrorist group al shabaab in somalia have had some success, but the u. According to the national counterterrorism center, the groups rankandfile members hail from disparate local groups, sometimes recruited by force. Oct 26, 2017 to defeat shabab terrorism, somalia requires expertise and equipment that it lacks, and it needs a new paradigm of cooperation between somali security services and our international partners. How to contain the threat of alshabaab and maritime piracy in somalia by thomas couchenour the united states must help effective african militaries contain the alshabaab terrorist group and refrain from instigating piratical strikes rather than resorting to imperialist intervention in somalia. Kenyas counterterrorism approach is floundering the. Somalia is a country that was ruled by the british and gained independence in 19601. Somalia recorded the second largest reduction in deaths for the second year in a row, with 824 fewer deaths recorded than in 2017. Burundis commitment to amisom is particularly unstable after burundian president pierre nkurunziza cracked down following an attempted coup in may 2015. How somalias al shabab grew into a global terror threat. The islamic states growing assertiveness reignited.
African countries have experienced relatively high levels of terrorism. But away from the spotlight, a quiet, dirty conflict is being waged in somalia. Nearly four years after 911, hardly a day passes without the war on terrorism making headlines, with iraq, afghanistan, indonesia and now london holding centre stage. Although somaliawas relatively neglected in the early. Terrorism has grown exponentially in the african continent, not only in terms of the number of attacks but also the number of countries affected. While alshabaab is most active in somalia, it has also committed numerous attacks in kenya, which has contributed troops to military missions in somalia and hosts large numbers of somali refugees. If terrorism reflects a solution to a problem with identifiable. The group was even, for the first time, recently linked to terrorist activity in the united states and europe. The icu had sought to close the power vacuum that had been left by the collapse of the government in 1991. They may resort to terrorism to coerce the withdrawal of foreign forces by punishing their civilians, bait foreign governments into overreacting, or simply to. Abstract this research paper will be an empirical study that seeks to clarify two hypotheses.
Terrorism in the horn of africa united states institute of peace. The principal terrorist threat in somalia comes from al shabaabmeaning literally the youth in arabic and. This book offers authoritative insight into the struggle against terrorism in the horn what has been done and what work remains. Some of the terrorist groups that operate in subsaharan africa, include, al shabaab operating in somalia, boko. 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. Somalia is located in eastern africa, bordering ethiopia, eritrea, djibouti, kenya, and the indian ocean.
Kenya because of its cooperation with the us on counter terrorism programs. This article sets out to explore the evolution, operational strategy and transnational dimensions of harakat alshabab almujahedeen aka alshabab, the somalibased islamist terrorist group. The scope of this category includes pages whose subjects relate to terrorism, a contentious label valueladen labelssuch as calling an organization andor individual a terrorist may express contentious opinion and are best avoided unless widely used by reliable sources to describe the subject, in which case use intext attribution. Still, progress in somalia is reversible in the absence of continued and consistent pressure and political, economic, and social reforms. Somalia terrorism index 20022018 data 20192020 forecast. Additionally, kenya has also been attacked by alshabaab, a somalia based terrorist group with civilian targets in garissa, wajir, mombasa and nairobi bearing the brunt of these attacks. In chapters 23, the author looks at the factors that triggered piracy and terrorism in somalia. In recent years, somalia has been involved in various acts that are being classified as terrorism and there have been such incidents of terrorism that have originated from somalia. Somalias terrorist infestation council on foreign relations. Radicalisation and alshabaab recruitment in somalia. But for many of the same reasons that somalia is a. The countrys statelessness, it was assumed, would provide a terrorist safe haven. Ultimately a successful counter terrorism strategy requires more attention to helping somalia with the twin tasks of reconciliation and state building.
Samir elhawary and victoria metcalfe are research fellows in hpg. Since it emerged from the islamic courts union icu in 2007, alshabaab has carried out more than 1700 terrorist attacks, killing more than 4,000 and wounding more than 4,000. Terrorism has been linked to the theory of deprivation, but the extent to which terrorism is an economic good can be explained using a rational choice model of economic agents. On july 2019 there was an attack on the asasey hotel in the city of kismaayo, southern somalia. Since the end of the ethiopian occupation in 2008, alshabab has continued to its efforts to establish sharia domestically and attack government representatives and african mission forces, while also adapting its foreign targets from ethiopia to kenya following a brief kenyan invasion in 2011. Department of state presence in somalia contributed to these challenges. Marshall inscr integrated network for societal conflict research cidcm center for international development and conflict management university of maryland, college park and the center for systemic peace draft. Causes and consequences of terrorism in africa oxford. Urgent steps are needed to address the political, economic, and governance challenges at the heart of the conflict. Beginning in 2018, the islamic state in somalia, which is believed to only number in the low hundreds of fighters, appears to have significantly expanded its operations across somalia, albeit from a relatively low base. The greater horn of africa thrusts itself toward yemen and hence the heart of arabia and the persianarab gulf.
Mar 15, 2014 christopher daniels talks about his book, somali piracy and terrorism in the horn of africa, in which he explores the piracy and terrorism plaguing the waters of somalia and the global threat. Kenya, somalias southern neighbor, accused al shabab of attacks within its borders, and began a long campaign to oust the group from its southern somalia strongholds. One of the most dangerous regions is the greater horn of africa along with yemen, its volatile neighbor. President nkurunziza called for the withdrawal of all burundian forces in somalia in early january 2017 due to a dispute with the eu, which refused to run its payments of the burundian amisom contingent through the central burundian. Rise of terrorism in africa manohar parrikar institute. The first is that it has become commonplace to assert that failingfailed states offer attractive venues for terrorist groups. From south asia to south america, terrorist groups are on the rise. Countering terrorism in a failed state crisis group. Antiterrorism laws have chilling effect on vital aid.
There is an arc of instability spreading across africa, from nigeria in the west to somalia in the east. Aqam futures project case study series july 2011 project. To defeat shabab terrorism, somalia requires expertise and equipment that it lacks, and it needs a new paradigm of cooperation between somali security services and our international partners. The evolution of counter terrorism legislation international law although the threat of terrorism has been on the international agenda since the league of nations, agreements on countering terrorism at a global level date from the 1960s. Terrorism as a force in social and international relations appears to some as a relapse into barbarism, a peculiar and dismal aberration of civilized life, and a step backward in the conduct of war. Terrorist groups operating in somalia have made threats against westerners and those working for western organisations in somalia, including somaliland. Terrorism in the horn of africa the web site cannot be found. Our founders and supporters are united by a common interest in fostering a strong british, european, and. Several steps need to occur, such as establishing an ontheground u. After 911, however, somalia s changing politics and fortunes were increasingly surveyed through the lens of terrorism.
Djibouti, somalia, eritrea, and sudana major source of terrorism. Suffering continual harassment, in january 2009 the ethiopian forces withdrew from somalia, replaced by several thousand ugandan and. The threat from boko haram and ansaru the henry jackson society 3 the henry jackson society the henry jackson society is a crosspartisan thinktank based in london. However, in 2006, the ethiopian army invaded somalia to intervene in the country following the strict sharia law that icu had established in somalia. Aalborg universitet the horn of africa and the us war on terror. Total deaths from terrorism are now down over 52 per cent from their peak in 2014.
Ethiopia, a part of the antishabaab coalition, is somalia s ancient enemy, and kenya has its own fraught relationship with the country. Somalia by thomas couchenour the united states must help effective african militaries contain the alshabaab terrorist group and refrain from instigating piratical strikes rather than resorting to imperialist intervention in somalia. In a new report, vanda felbabbrown details somalia s use of progovernment militias such as the darwish in governmentled counterinsurgency and counter terrorism strategies. Five of the six national armies currently inside somalia hail from christian coun. Ethiopias intervention in somalia in december 2006 temporarily secured the transitional governments position, but this appears to have sown the seed for a future. Alshabaabs composition is multiethnic, with its leadership positions mainly occupied by afghanistan and iraqtrained ethnic somalis and foreigners. Apr 26, 2017 antiterrorism laws have chilling effect on vital aid deliveries to somalia. Ethiopias intervention in somalia in december 2006 temporarily secured the transitional governments position, but this appears to have sown the seed for a future islamic and clanbased insurgency, with regional implications. Following the 911 attacks against the united states, the horn has come under increased. After 911 and the escalation of the global war on terror. Anti terrorism laws have chilling effect on vital aid deliveries to somalia. Since the ethiopian invasion, battle lines within somalia have remained relatively static.
The african union mission to somalia amisom has been active in somalia since 2007, combatting alshabaab. Counter terrorism and humanitarian action tensions, impact and ways forward hpg hpg policy brief 43 humanitarian policy group october 2011 sara pantuliano is head of the humanitarian policy group. Pdf during the last three decades, somalia has become an arena of persistent conflict. One is an alqaeda cell believed to be responsible for the 1998 bombing of the u. Introduction since the mid1990s, three extremist groups operating from somalia have chalked up a deadly track record. Nonetheless, according to a committee on foreign relations report pdf. Todays terrorism and insurgency landscape defies easy solutions, with challenges from the islamic state, al qaida, and other groups across the middle east, europe, asia, and africa. Since it emerged from the islamic courts union icu in 2007. President nkurunziza called for the withdrawal of all burundian forces in somalia in early january 2017 due to a dispute with the eu, which refused to run its payments of the burundian amisom contingent through the central burundian government. There are concerns that since the terrorism groups in somalia are linked to the alqaeda especially the alshabaab there is a chance that the threat of terrorism is far from over. Somalias alqaedaaffiliated islamic group, alshabaab almujahedeen, is making a comeback. Enhancing counterterrorism cooperation in eastern africa eric rosand, alistair millar and jason ipe. Unlike most of the organizations top leaders, its foot soldiers are primarily concerned with.
Enhancing counterterrorism cooperation in eastern africa. The subsequent events of 911 in 2001 and july 7 in 2005 led to further legislation, resulting in the anti terrorism, crime and security act 2001, the prevention of terrorism act 2005 and the. Somalia, which involves the secular government, antigovernment clan militias and antiislamic warlords. A total of 14 international conventions exist, including. Foreign service, including as ambassador to ethiopia and state department coordinator for somalia during the international intervention in. The most dangerous and most wanted by counterterrorism agencies is an alqaeda cell composed of militants responsible for the 1998 bombing of the. Within the complex region of northeastern africa that extends from the peaks of kilimanjaro to the depression of djibouti and from the deserts of chad to the red sea and on southward, past cape guardafui, to the barren coastline of punt, there are 149 million people, more than half. The state department reports that both al qaeda and al shabaab pose. The first chapter examines the factors that led to somalia s becoming a failed state and the aftermath of the declaration of independence by somaliland and other vassal states. The horn of africa and the us war on terror with special focus on somalia. The most important, the indigenous alitihaad alislami, aims to establish an islamic state in somalia and in the somali inhabited region of eastern ethiopia the ogaden. International terrorism potential in southern africa. Counterterror and the logic of violence in somalias.
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