As Somalis prepare for only their third general election in 60 years, al-Shabaab has been escalating its attacks throughout the country. More than a dozen deadly attacks were reported over the last week alone, underscoring al-Shabaab’s unrelenting...
Al-Shabaab—al-Qaeda’s largest, wealthiest, and most kinetically active cell—has posed a critical threat to Somalia’s security since the group’s establishment in late 2006. The group’s insurgency in Somalia and high-profile attacks against neighboring...
Somalia was struck by twin car bombings near Somalia’s education ministry in Mogadishu on Saturday. More than 100 casualties were reported, with 300 others wounded. Al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s formal affiliate in East Africa, claimed responsibility for...
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Senior Director and former Coordinator of the U.N. Security Council’s ISIL (Da’esh), al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler released the following statement today applauding the U.S...
Somali security forces ended a 30-hour assault by al-Shabaab militants on the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu last weekend that left 21 people dead and 117 wounded. This was the first major attack by the extremist group since Somali President Hassan Sheikh...
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Shindler interviewed: "Al-Shabaab is, if not the largest, one of the largest al-Qaeda affiliates around the globe, only rivaled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria. And in difference to in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria, al-Shabaab actually runs large parts of Somalia, around 30% I think experts conclude."
In a move to assist newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Somalia’s fight against al-Shabaab, President Joe Biden this week approved the redeployment of U.S. ground forces to the country—a reversal from the previous administration’s late...
Last week, in the latest spasm of political turmoil in war-torn Somalia, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed suspended Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble over corruption accusations. Mohamed alleged that the ousted prime minister had been looting...
Recent reports have indicated that the Puntland Security Force (PSF), a U.S.-trained Somali counterterrorism force, has abandoned its mission and retreated to its headquarters in protest of a new commander imposed by the Puntland government. The PSF...
Al-Qaeda-aligned terrorist group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last week that targeted Somali intelligence and security headquarters, leaving at least 10 dead and dozens of others injured. The bombing is the second deadly...
Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.
Fact:
On March 30, 2020, an al-Shabaab suicide bomber mounted the vehicle of Abdisalan Hasan Hersi, a governor in Somalia’s Puntland, as he parked his car near a police station. The jihadist detonated his explosive device, killing Hersi and seriously wounding a former police commander and a civilian.
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