The US military is clearly targeting Shabaab in Mudug province. There have been five strikes there in the past four days and 50 Shabaab fighters are reported to have been killed in the attacks.
The pattern of the strikes, which took place in central Somalia, indicates that al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa either has an established base in the area, or that it was massing its fighters for a large scale attack.
The Islamic State warns Shabaab that it will respond to the group’s campaign targeting Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s loyalists in Somalia. Shabaab has been executing and arresting defectors who join the Islamic State since 2015. But the al Qaeda branch has stepped up its anti-Islamic State operations again in recent weeks.
Much like other assaults on popular hotels, restaurants, or various targets inside Mogadishu, Shabaab was quick to claim credit for the operation on social media.
Kunyo Barrow, where the most recent strike took place, is located in the Jubba River Valley, a stronghold of the al Qaeda affiliate.
A large concentration of Shabaab fighters a significant distance from its typical support zone in Jubba River Valley demonstrates the Al Qaeda affiliate’s resilience across Somalia.
This is the third time in the past month that US forces have conducted defensive airstrikes following Shabaab attacks.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, has executed a number of alleged spies this week. The group accused them of working for American, British and Somali intelligence. At least some of Shabaab’s claims are dubious, however.
As JNIM rallies its members and supporters against France and Mali, it depicts the fight with the two countries as part of al Qaeda’s wider global jihad.
Today’s suicide bombings marks one of the first times European Union troops have been targeted by Shabaab.
Today’s suicide bombing on a district headquarters in Mogadishu comes only a week after a similar attack on another district headquarters in the Somali capital.
Shabaab has managed to launch 418 attacks of different types during the six-month timeframe in support of its persistent and ongoing insurgency against Somalia’s weak central government and allied African Union forces.
The strike is the second against Shabaab, which is al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, in Somalia that has been reported by U.S. Africa Command this month.
Shabaab continues to claim deadly attacks on Kenyan Defense Forces inside Kenya despite military operations against it.
AFRICOM noted that Shabaab, which is al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, continues to maintain “training camps” and “safe havens throughout Somalia and the region.”
If the photos are confirmed, Shabaab was able to wrestle brief control over the base yesterday. This contradicts official statements released by Somali officials about the assault.
The same base where a US Special Forces soldier was killed last month was again targeted by Shabaab, this time with two suicide truck bombs.
The State Department has amended the terrorist designation of Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, to include Al-Hijra, which has served as Shabaab’s “wing” in Kenya. In the past, according to the UN, Al-Hijra has played a key role in Shabaab’s planning of terrorist attacks.
Saturday’s suicide attack on the presidential compound in Mogadishu came just a week after a similar strike was conducted on Somalia’s Ministry of Interior.
One day after Shabaab launched a deadly assault in which one US service member was killed, the al Qaeda branch again targeted the base today with a suicide car bomb.
At least four other US Special Forces personnel, as well as a Somali special forces soldier, were also wounded. The Special Forces soldiers were ambushed in an area that is a known Shabaab stronghold.
The video is one of the first times that the Somali jihadist group has highlighted its assassinations within Mogadishu.
Since late April, Shabaab has released a series of videos emphasizing its place in al Qaeda’s global network. Two of the videos were recorded by the group’s emir, Abu Ubaydah Ahmad Umar, a normally reclusive figure. Abu Ubaydah refers to the Taliban’s emir as the “Commander of the Faithful” and Ayman al Zawahiri as the “father-emir” while addressing the mujahideen in Syria and Yemen.
Two busy markets in southern Somalia were targeted by deadly explosions this week, which left at least 14 people dead and many others wounded.
The Islamic State has claimed several attacks inside Somalia in the past month, further outpacing the past two years in claimed attacks in the country. While the Islamic State has had a difficult time establishing a foothold inside the country, its claimed operations paints a picture of its areas of operation and types of operations it conducts.
The location of last weekend’s strike highlights the geographical range of US operations against Shabaab, and the scope of the al Qaeda branch’s insurgency.
Shabaab has claimed a number of attacks in recent days across southern Somalia, including briefly recapturing the strategic town of Balad just north of Mogadishu.
Khattab al Masri, a foreign fighter who sided with Omar Hammami during his dispute with Shabaab, reconciled with the terrorist group and was killed while fighting Ethiopian forces in 2016.
Strikes in 2018 have been concentrated in and around the town of Jilib, whihc has been identified as a Shabaab safe haven.
The coordinated suicide bombings and subsequent assaults are the first major attack of its kind to hit Mogadishu this year.