Formed: December 2006

Disbanded: Group is active.

First Attack: March 26, 2007: A man named Adam Salam Adam used a car bomb to conduct a suicide attack against Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bombing, allegedly the city’s first suicide attack. (~73 killed, unknown wounded).[1] 

Last Attack: January 15, 2019: Militants from Al Shabaab staged a 19-hour siege of DusitD2, a five-star hotel in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, killing at least 21 people with gunfire and explosives.[2]

Executive Summary

Al Shabaab, meaning “The Youth” in Arabic, is the largest militant organization fighting to oust the Somali government and the foreign military presence supporting it.[3] The group seeks to control territory within Somalia in order to establish a society based on its rigid interpretation of Shariah law. Although based in Somalia, Al Shabaab also conducts attacks in neighboring countries, notably Kenya. Al Shabaab emerged as an independent organization around December 2006 after breaking away from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), for which it had served as the military wing. Since the late 2000s, Al Shabaab has had close ties to Al Qaeda and has sought to frame the Somali struggle as part of a global jihadist movement. The group has engaged in bombings, suicide attacks, and armed assaults, especially against Somali government targets, Christians, private civilians, foreign troops, diplomats, and aid or nongovernmental organization workers.

Group Narrative

Al Shabaab, meaning "The Youth" in Arabic, is the largest militant organization fighting to out the Somali government. The group seeks to establish a new Somalian state ruled according to its strict interpretation of Shariah law. Although based in Somalia, Al Shabaab also conducts attacks in neighboring countries, such as Kenya. Al Shabaab emerged as an independent organization around December 2006 after breaking away from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), for which it had served as the military wing.[4]

Before serving as the ICU’s military wing, Al Shabaab’s origins are somewhat ambiguous. Its first leader was Aden Hashi Ayro, who had earlier joined an Islamist movement called Al Ittihad Al Islamiya (AIAI) in 1991. The AIAI disbanded in 1997. Sometime after 1997, Ayro joined what would be called the ICU, a movement within the Somali court system that sought to establish control over Somalia. Ayro may have led a loose group of AIAI militants before joining the ICU, meaning that Al Shabaab may have existed in some form before serving as the ICU’s military wing. However, Al Shabaab mainly developed as part of the ICU, and Ayro helped recruit and train its fighters. Directed by Ayro, Al Shabaab conducted brutal attacks that drew condemnation from local and international communities as well as much of the ICU leadership, including Hassan Dahir Aweys, another former AIAI member and a top ICU leader who has reportedly served as a spiritual influence for Al Shabaab. Al Shabaab’s early activities allegedly included multiple killings of international workers in Somaliland—the northwestern region of Somalia—between 2003 and 2005 as well as the disinterment of an Italian cemetery in 2005. Additionally, Al Shabaab supported the use of violent retaliation against employees of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) after various ICU members were assassinated in 2005, allegedly by the TFG.[5]

In mid-2006, the ICU briefly gained control of central and southern Somalia. Ayro argued for connecting the Somali struggle to a global jihadist agenda, but other ICU leaders wanted to focus on nationalist goals and creating an Islamic state in Somalia. In December 2006, United Nations-backed Ethiopian troops—along with TFG forces and competing warlords—drove the ICU out of Mogadishu. The ICU was completely crushed and formally disbanded on December 27, 2006. However, Ayro’s Al Shabaab remained active. The Ethiopian invasion of Somalia was a crucial event for Al Shabaab, stoking resentment against a foreign occupying power and allowing Al Shabaab to become the major force for resistance in Somalia after most ICU leaders—including Aweys—fled. After the invasion, Al Shabaab conducted attacks against Ethiopian and TFG forces using bombs, suicide operations, and assassinations. The group especially focused on forcing the Ethiopian troops, who remained in Somalia after the invasion, out of the country. In March 2007, African Union troops from Uganda and Burundi—forming a contingent called AMISOM—also joined the operation to stabilize Somalia, and Al Shabaab attacks targeted those troops as well.[6]

In September 2007, former ICU leaders and members met with elements of other opposition groups in Asmara, Eritrea in order to form an alliance, reemerging as the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS). Aweys became a top leader of the ARS.[7] However, Al Shabaab refused to attend the meeting in Eritrea and denounced the new group for failing to adopt a global jihadist agenda.[8] Although Al Shabaab focused on attacking Ethiopian and African Union forces, the group also attempted to connect its cause to a broader jihadist movement, especially by attracting foreign fighters and promoting a relationship with Al Qaeda. Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda leaders have enjoyed positive relations. The groups have praised each other publicly, and Al Shabaab has offered refuge to Al Qaeda members in the region.[9] 

Beginning in 2008, Al Shabaab strengthened its relationship with Al Qaeda. In May 2008, Ayro was killed in a U.S. missile strike, and Ahmed Abdi Godane—also called Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr—became Al Shabaab’s top leader. He published a statement that praised Al Qaeda and explicitly casted the group’s struggle in Somalia as part of a larger global jihad. Under Godane, Al Shabaab aligned itself more closely with Al Qaeda in ideology and tactics. It began to target civilians through suicide attacks much more frequently, and the organization’s leadership began to include many Al Qaeda members. Al Shabaab leveraged its relationship with Al Qaeda to attract foreign fighters and monetary donations from Al Qaeda’s supporters, and Al Shabaab members traveled abroad to train with Al Qaeda.[10]

In 2008, Al Shabaab launched a violent campaign in revenge for Ayro’s death, focusing on attacks against U.S. and UN targets in Somalia. Among other attacks during that campaign, Al Shabaab simultaneously executed five suicide attacks against UN and government targets in October 29, 2008.[11] Throughout 2008, Al Shabaab continued to use guerrilla and terror tactics against Ethiopian troops, gaining control of most of southern Somalia and some of Mogadishu by early 2009. Later that year, Al Shabaab released a video formally pledging allegiance to Al Qaeda.[12] The group officially became an affiliate of Al Qaeda in 2012.[13]

In January 2009, Ethiopian forces withdrew from Mogadishu in accordance with a 2008 UN-backed agreement between the TFG and the ARS, which also stipulated the deployment of UN peacekeepers.[14] Al Shabaab claimed that it had succeeded in expelling the Ethiopians from Somalia and turned its attention on forcing other foreign soldiers from the country. Its attacks particularly targeted TFG and AMISOM troops. After the Ethiopian withdrawal, the ICU’s former leader, Sheikh Sharif, became the TFG’s president. Sharif’s ascension provided some stability in the country, and he vowed to implement Shariah law. After Sharif became president and Ethiopian troops left the country, Al Shabaab lost some of its basis for popular support. The group’s goal to force out the Ethiopians was complete, and its efforts to implement Sharia law were taken up by Sharif. In an attempt to remain relevant and undermine the TFG, Al Shabaab established its own governing structures in the territories under its control. Through these structures, the group provided social services and collected taxes.[15]

In 2009, Aweys returned to Somalia as the leader of Hizbul Islam, a newly-formed rival of Al Shabaab. Fighting between the two groups ultimately led to the weakening of Hizbul Islam and its absorption into Al Shabaab in 2010. As a result, Aweys rejoined Al Shabaab.[16]

In August 2011, Al Shabaab withdrew from Mogadishu, claiming that the move was a tactical retreat. The Somali government, however, asserted that its own troops, together with AMISOM, had forced Al Shabaab into retreat. After its expulsion from Mogadishu, Al Shabaab lost territory, most notably access to major seaports, which it has not been able to regain as of 2019.[17] The control of port cities, principally Kismayo, had allowed the group to gain revenue from smuggling and taxing overseas shipping.[18]

As it lost physical territory, Al Shabaab accelerated its high-profile attacks on civilians and security personnel both within Somalia and abroad .The group’s first attack outside of Somalia occurred on July 11, 2010 during the final match of the FIFA World Cup. The group carried out suicide bombings at a restaurant in Uganda that killed seventy-four people.[19] Al Shabaab also conducted operations in Kenya in an effort to pressure Kenyan troops to withdraw from Somalia. Al Shabaab militants attacked Kenya’s Westgate mall in 2011, sparking a four-day siege in which at least sixty-eight people were killed. In April 2015, Al Shabaab militants attacked Kenya’s Garissa University College, killing at least 147. Al Shabaab claimed that its attacks in Kenya were meant to force Kenyan troops to withdraw from Somalia.[20] Some analysts point to the 2014 death of Al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane as the catalyst for a fragmentation of the organization’s previously hierarchical structure, proposing that since then, Al Shabaab may have divided into sub-groups focused on attacks in Somalia and in Kenya, respectively.[21]

In 2016 and 2017, Al Shabaab continued to launch high-profile surprise attacks with the goal of forcing foreign troops out of Somalia, especially those of the Kenyan armed forces and the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).[22] Al Shabaab militants attacked both military and civilian targets in Mogadishu and across northern and southern Somalia, usually in public places with high visibility.[23] In January 2016, militants killed over 100 soldiers at a Kenyan AMISOM base in one of the deadliest attacks on the mission since its inception in 2007.[24] The next year, in what many Somalis consider to be their country’s 9/11, Al Shabaab detonated two truck bombs in downtown Mogadishu, killing over 500 bystanders.[25]

As of June 2018, countries participating in AMISOM were preparing to withdraw completely from Somalia by 2020 due to their own domestic security concerns and a lack of funding. Analysts are concerned that the Somali government will be unable to counter Al Shabaab after this troop withdrawal, enabling the militant organization to capture swaths of territory as it has done in the past.[26]

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has stepped up its campaign against Al Shabaab. In 2018, the U.S. conducted 47 drone strikes against Al Shabaab, compared to 37 in 2017. In December 2018 alone, 62 militants were killed by U.S. airstrikes. Trump has also changed the rules of engagement for the U.S. military in Somalia to allow for preemptive strikes against members of Al Shabaab, resulting in the deaths of over 300 militants. Al Shabaab has claimed that its January 15, 2019 attack on a five-star hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, was in retaliation for the increase in U.S. military activity in the region. Analysts have indicated that U.S. airstrikes, rather than impeding Al Shabaab, may in fact have little effect on the group’s operations and may facilitate the recruitment of militants. The January 2019 hotel siege, occurring on the three-year anniversary of Al Shabaab’s devastating strike on a Kenyan AMISOM base, may have been intended as a demonstration that increased U.S. military engagement in Somalia has failed to curtail Al Shabaab’s ability to conduct sophisticated attacks. Al Shabaab also announced that the attack was retribution for the Trump administration’s move of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018.[27] Given the length of time elapsed between the move of the embassy and the hotel siege, some analysts assert that the attack was rather part of Al Shabaab’s broader campaign to end Kenyan military intervention in Somalia.[28]

In late 2017, Al Shabaab leader Ahmad Umar was bedridden due to a prolonged illness, triggering a leadership crisis within Al Shabaab. It is unclear when his health problems began; as of June 2018, he is believed to be near death.[29] The cost of his medication has diverted funds meant for Al Shabaab’s operations.[30] Umar’s failing health and its drain on Al Shabaab’s resources are believed to have weakened his control over the group, spurring a power struggle.[31] Meetings of Al Shabaab’s eight-member Shura council of senior leaders have reportedly ended in deadlock, unable to coalesce around a single figure to succeed Umar as emir.[32] Analysts believe that financial administrator Hussein Ali Fiidow is the most likely successor. Fiidow has experience networking with clan elders and has served in leadership roles in both finance and regional operations.[33] According to Kenyan intelligence sources, Fiidow allegedly attempted to organize a coup (presumably unsuccessful) during the first half of 2018.[34]

Analysts are divided in predicting the effects of the leadership struggle on Al Shabaab’s operations. Some hold that would-be successors to Umar will stage dramatic attacks in order to prove their qualifications as potential leaders of the group, while others believe that AMISOM and the Somali government will be able to exploit Al Shabaab’s internal political divisions and seize back territory occupied by the group.[35]

[1] Harnisch, Christopher. “The Terror Threat from Somalia: The Internationalization of Al Shabaab.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug 2015.

[2] Bearek, Max. “Survivors recount nightmarish siege in Nairobi hotel attack that killed 21.” The Washington Post. 16 Jan. 2019. Web. 17 Jan. 2019. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/standoff-at-nairobi-hotel-attack-s…;.

[3] “Who are al-Shabab?” Al Jazeera.  4 Aug.  2009.  Web. 1 July 2013.

[4] Masters, Jonathan, and Mohammed Aly Sergie. “Al-Shabab.” CFR Backgrounders, Council on Foreign Relations, 13 Mar. 2015. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Pate, Amy, and Michael Jensen and Erin Miller. “Al-Shabaab Attack on Garissa University in Kenya.” Background Report, National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Curran, Cody. “Global Ambitions: An Analysis of al Shabaab’s Evolving Rhetoric.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.

[5] Dempsey, Thomas. “Counterterrorism in African Failed States: Challenges and Potential Solutions.” Strategic Studies Institute, Apr. 2006. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Page, Jacqueline. “Jihadi Arena Report: Somalia - Development of Radical Islamism and Current Implications.” International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Harnisch, Christopher. “The Terror Threat from Somalia: The Internationalization of Al Shabaab.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug 2015. Masters, Jonathan, and Mohammed Aly Sergie. “Al-Shabab.” CFR Backgrounders, Council on Foreign Relations, 13 Mar. 2015. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.

[6] Harnisch, Christopher. “The Terror Threat from Somalia: The Internationalization of Al Shabaab.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug 2015. Page, Jacqueline. “Jihadi Arena Report: Somalia - Development of Radical Islamism and Current Implications.” International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.

[7] Masters, Jonathan, and Mohammed Aly Sergie. “Al-Shabab.” CFR Backgrounders, Council on Foreign Relations, 13 Mar. 2015. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Page, Jacqueline. “Jihadi Arena Report: Somalia - Development of Radical Islamism and Current Implications.” International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.

[8] Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed. “The Strategic Challenge of Somalia’s Al-Shabaab: Dimensions of Jihad.” Middle East Quarterly 16.4 (Fall 2009): 25-36. Web. 2 July 2013.

[9] Page, Jacqueline. “Jihadi Arena Report: Somalia - Development of Radical Islamism and Current Implications.” International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.

[10] Wise, Rob. “Al Shabaab.” AQAM Futures Project Case Study Series, Center for Strategic & International Studies/Homeland Security & Counterterrorism Program Transnational Threats Project. July 2011. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Harnisch, Christopher. “The Terror Threat from Somalia: The Internationalization of Al Shabaab.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug 2015.

[11] Ibrahim, Mohammed, and Jeffrey Gettleman. “5 Suicide Bomb Attacks Hit Somalia.” The New York Times, 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. “Deadly car bombs hit Somaliland.” BBC News, 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[12] Harnisch, Christopher. “The Terror Threat from Somalia: The Internationalization of Al Shabaab.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug 2015. Wise, Rob. “Al Shabaab.” AQAM Futures Project Case Study Series, Center for Strategic & International Studies/Homeland Security & Counterterrorism Program Transnational Threats Project. July 2011. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Houreld, Katharine. “Somali militant group al-Shabaab formally joins al-Qaida.” The Guardian, 9 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[13] CNN Wire Staff. “Al-Shabaab joining al Qaeda, monitor group says.” CNN, 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.}} {{Berger, J.M. “Al Qaeda’s Merger.” Foreign Policy, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Lahoud, Nelly. “The Merger of Al-Shabab and Qa’idat Al-Jihad.” CTC Sentinel 5, no. 24 (Feb. 16, 2012) Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

[14] Somalia Business Law Handbook, Volume 1: Strategic Information and Laws. Washington, D.C.: International Business Publications, USA, 1 Jan. 2012. Print.

[15] Harnisch, Christopher. “The Terror Threat from Somalia: The Internationalization of Al Shabaab.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug 2015.

[16] Roggio, Bill. “Hizbul Islam joins Shabaab in Somalia.” The Long War Journal, 19 Dec. 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Bryden, Matt. “The Reinvention of Al-Shabaab: A Strategy of Choice or Necessity?”. Center for Strategic & International Studies, Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[17] Felter, Claire, Jonathan Masters, and Mohammed Aly Sergie. “Al-Shabab.” Council on Foreign Relations. 16 Jan. 2019. Web. 30 Jan. 2019. <https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabab&gt;.

[18] Fanusie, Yaya J. and Alex Entz. “Al-Shabaab: Financial Assessment.” Foundation for Defense of Democracies. June 2017. Web. 30 Jan. 2019. <https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/defenddemocracy/uploads/documents/CS…;.

[19] Bryden, Matt. “The Reinvention of Al-Shabaab: A Strategy of Choice or Necessity?”. Center for Strategic & International Studies, Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[20] Iaccino, Ludovica. “Kenya Garissa University massacre: Five worst attacks by al-Shabaab terrorists.” International Business Times, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. “Kenya families mourn loved ones after Garissa massacre.” Al Jazeera, 3 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Karimi, Faith, and Steve Almasy and Lillian Leposo. “Kenya mall attack: Military says most hostages freed, death toll at 68.” CNN, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[21] Cannon, Brendon J. and Martin Plaut. “Why al-Shabaab targets Kenya and how to stop the attacks.” Quartz. 16 Jan. 2019. Web. 24 Jan. 2019. <https://qz.com/africa/1525710/nairobi-hotel-attacks-why-al-shabaab-targ…;.

[22] West, Sunguta. “Increased Attacks Suggest al-Shabaab Resurgence.” The Jamestown Foundation. 12 October 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2018. < https://jamestown.org/program/increased-attacks-suggest-al-shabaab-resu…;.

[23] West, Sunguta. “Increased Attacks Suggest al-Shabaab Resurgence.” The Jamestown Foundation. 12 October 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2018. < https://jamestown.org/program/increased-attacks-suggest-al-shabaab-resu…;.

[24] Oladipo, Tomi. “What happened when al-Shabab attacked a Kenyan base in Somalia?” BBC News. 22 Jan. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2018. <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35364593&gt;.

[25] Sullivan, Emily. “Mogadishu Truck Bomb's Death Toll Now Tops 500, Probe Committee Says.” NPR. 2 December 2017. Web. 25 November 2018. < https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/02/567985077/mogadishu-…;.

[26] Blaine, Seth. “Al-Shabaab Preparing for New Leadership.” Center for Security Policy. 19 June 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2018. <https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2018/06/19/al-shabaab-preparing…;.

[27] Bearak, Max. “Deadly Nairobi attack comes as U.S. military ramps up airstrikes against al-Shabab in Somalia.” The Washington Post. 17 Jan. 2019. Web. 17 Jan. 2019. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/deadly-nairobi-attack-comes…;.

[28] Ward, Alex. “Al-Shabaab’s Kenya attack proves the terrorist group is still deadly.” Vox. 16 Jan. 2019. Web. 24 Jan. 2019. <https://www.vox.com/world/2019/1/16/18185182/nairobi-kenya-hotel-attack…;.

[29] Blaine, Seth. “Al-Shabaab Preparing for New Leadership.” Center for Security Policy. 19 June 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2018. <https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2018/06/19/al-shabaab-preparing…;.

[30] Blaine, “Al-Shabaab Preparing for New Leadership.”

[31] West, Sunguta. “Hussein Ali Fiidow’s Challenge to al-Shabaab Leadership.” The Jamestown Foundation. 6 June 2018. Web. 26 Nov. 2018. < https://jamestown.org/brief/hussein-ali-fiidows-challenge-to-al-shabaab…;.

[32] West, “Hussein Ali Fiidow’s Challenge to al-Shabaab Leadership.”

[33] Blaine, “Al-Shabaab Preparing for New Leadership.”

[34] Blaine, “Al-Shabaab Preparing for New Leadership.”

[35] Blaine, “Al-Shabaab Preparing for New Leadership.”

Disclaimer: These are some selected major attacks in the militant organization's history. It is not a comprehensive listing but captures some of the most famous attacks or turning points during the campaign.

March 26, 2007: A man named Adam Salam Adam used a car bomb to conduct a suicide attack against Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu. Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bombing, which allegedly was the city’s first suicide attack. (~73 killed, unknown wounded)[1]

October 29, 2008: Al Shabaab conducted five simultaneous suicide car bombings in the cities of Hargeisa and Bosasso, targeting UN and government buildings. (29+ killed, 36+ wounded)[2]

July 11, 2010: Al Shabaab conducted two simultaneous suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda. One took place at an Ethiopian restaurant, while the other occurred at a rugby club during the FIFA World Cup final. A group spokesman warned that any country sending its armed forces to Somalia would face similar attacks.[3] (74+ killed, 85+ wounded)[4]

April 14, 2013: Al Shabaab bombed court buildings in Mogadishu and then conducted an armed assault inside the buildings. On the same day, Al Shabaab bombed a convoy of Turkish aid workers. (30+ killed, unknown wounded)[5]

September 21, 2013: Al Shabaab gunmen attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, triggering a four-day siege by government forces. (~68 killed, 175 wounded)[6]

February 21, 2014: Al Shabaab attacked Villa Somalia, the presidential palace compound, with a car bomb before entering the compound to engage in a gunfight with guards. (14+ killed, unknown wounded)[7]

June 16, 2014: Al Shabaab gunmen attacked several targets in the Kenyan town of Mpeketoni, including a police station, a bank, several hotels, and a hall in which people were viewing the World Cup. The next day, gunmen also conducted an attack on the nearby village of Poromoko. (49+ killed, unknown wounded)[8]

November 22, 2014: Al Shabaab militants attacked a bus with sixty passengers traveling from Kenya’s Mandera to Nairobi. The militants executed passengers who could not recite Koran verses as well as those who resisted the attack. (28 killed, unknown wounded)[9]

April 2, 2015: Al Shabaab gunmen attacked Garissa University College in Kenya, targeting non-Muslim students. (~151 killed, unknown wounded)[10]

October 7, 2015: Al Shabaab militants ambushed a car carrying two passengers, killing both. The victims included the nephew of Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud. (2 killed, unknown wounded)[11]

January 15, 2016: Roughly 200 Al Shabaab militants attacked an AMISOM base in el-Ade, Somalia, beginning with a suicide bomb attack and continuing with an assault by gunmen. The Kenyan military has resisted releasing information on the extent of the attack, one of the country’s greatest military defeats since its independence in 1963. Al Shabaab quickly released propaganda materials to trumpet the alleged success of its offensive, which observers have deemed a “massacre.”[12] (141 killed, unknown wounded)[13]

October 14, 2017: In what many Somalis consider their 9/11, two truck bombs exploded in busy districts of Mogadishu. Entire buildings and streets were severely damaged in the attack, thought to be the deadliest in Somalia recent memory. Al Shabaab did not claim the attack, but the Somali government attributed responsibility to the group. One of the bombs is believed to have been destined for Mogadishu’s airport but was detonated early by gunfire. (512 killed, 312 wounded, 62 missing)[14]

April 1, 2018: Using two suicide car bombs, Al Shabaab militants attacked a base of Ugandan peacekeeping forces in the town of Bulamarer. (46 killed)[15]

November 9, 2018: Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for an attack with coordinated car bombs on the headquarters of Somalia’s Criminal Investigations Department and the Sahafi Hotel, a locale frequented by government officials. The bombs were timed to go off around 4 pm when pedestrians and traffic flooded the streets.[16] (53 killed, unknown wounded)[17]

January 15, 2019: Three years to the day after Al Shabaab’s devastating attack on an AMISOM base in Kenya, militants besieged the five-star DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, Kenya for 19 hours. The group claimed that the attack was retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s increased airstrikes in Somalia and move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. (21 killed, unknown wounded)[18]

[1] Harnisch, Christopher. “The Terror Threat from Somalia: The Internationalization of Al Shabaab.” Critical Threats Project, American Enterprise Institute, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 20 Aug 2015.

[2] Ibrahim, Mohammed, and Jeffrey Gettleman. “5 Suicide Bomb Attacks Hit Somalia.” The New York Times, 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. “Deadly car bombs hit Somaliland.” BBC News, 29 Oct. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[3] Felter, Claire, Jonathan Masters, and Mohammed Aly Sergie. “Al-Shabab.” Council on Foreign Relations. 9 January 2018. Web. 25 November 2018. <https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/al-shabab&gt;.

[4] “Al-Shabaab.” Counterterrorism Guide, National Counterterrorism Center. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. Rice, Xan. “Uganda bomb blasts kill at least 74.” The Guardian, 12 July 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[5] “Somalia: New Al-Shabaab Attacks are War Crimes.” Human Rights Watch, 16 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Ibrahim, Mohammed. “Coordinated Blasts Kill at Least 20 in Somalia’s Capital.” The New York Times, 14 Apr. 2013. “Somalia supreme court attack kills at least 20.” The Guardian, 14 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[6] Karimi, Faith, and Steve Almasy and Lillian Leposo. “Kenya mall attack: Military says most hostages freed, death toll at 68.” CNN, 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Miller, Erin. “Al-Shabaab Attack on Westgate Mall in Kenya.” Background Report, National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Aug. 2015.

[7] “Al-Shabab attacks Somali presidential palace.” Al Jazeera, 22 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[8] Saul, Heather. “Kenya attack: al-Shabaab militants kill 10 in second raid near Mpeketoni.” Independent, 17 June 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. “Kenya attack: Mpeketoni near Lamu hit by al-Shabab raid.” BBC News, 16 June 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[9] “Kenya bus killings claimed by Somali group al-Shabab.” BBC News, 22 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Karimi, Faith, and Christabelle Fombu. “Police: Islamist militants hijack bus in Kenya at dawn, kill dozens.” CNN, 22 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Khalif, Abjata, and Mohamed Sheikh Nor. “Kenyan Bus Attack by al-Qaeda Militants Kills 28 People.” BloombergBusiness, 21 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[10] Levs, Josh, and Holly Yan. “147 dead, Islamist gunmen killed after attack at Kenya college.” CNN, 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. Karimi, Faith, and David McKenzie. “Kenya attack victims: Vigil mourns 147 slaim by terrorists in Garissa.” CNN, 10 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[11] Reuters. “Somali militants kill president’s nephew in ambush.” 7 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

[12] Oladipo, Tomi. “What happened when al-Shabab attacked a Kenyan base in Somalia?” BBC News. 22 Jan. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2018. <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35364593&gt;.

[13] Kriel, Robyn and Briana Duggan. “Kenya Covers Up Military Massacre.” CNN 31 May 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2018. <https://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/31/africa/kenya-soldiers-el-adde-massac…;.

[14] Sullivan, Emily. “Mogadishu Truck Bomb's Death Toll Now Tops 500, Probe Committee Says.” NPR. 2 December 2017. Web. 25 November 2018. < https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/12/02/567985077/mogadishu-…;.

[15] Burke, Jason and Abdalle Ahmed Mumin. “Al-Shabaab attack kills dozens of Ugandan soldiers in Somalia.” 1 April 2018. Web. Accessed 13 November 2018. <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/01/al-shabaab-attack-kills-u…;.

[16] Ombuor, Rael. “Car bombs rock Somali capital, killing at least 20 in attacks claimed by al-Shabab.” The Washington Post. 9 Nov. 2018. Web. 24 Nov. 2018. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/car-bombs-rock-somali-capit…;.

[17] Associated Press. “Toll rises to 53 dead from bomb blasts in Somalia’s capital.” The Washington Post. 10 November 2018. Web. 25 November 2018. < https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/toll-rises-to-53-dead-from-…;.

[18] Bearek, Max. “Survivors recount nightmarish siege in Nairobi hotel attack that killed 21.” The Washington Post. 16 Jan. 2019. Web. 17 Jan. 2019. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/standoff-at-nairobi-hotel-attack-s…;.