The Islamic State’s loyalists claimed more operations in Somalia in 2018 than in 2016 and 2017 combined. The group has also expanded its operations to include tactics normally associated with its larger rival, Shabaab.
Today’s suicide bombings marks one of the first times European Union troops have been targeted by Shabaab.
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.
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.
The video is one of the first times that the Somali jihadist group has highlighted its assassinations within Mogadishu.
The arrests come a month after another Islamic State member was arrested in Mogadishu. Additionally, the Islamic State also claimed another assassination inside the country yesterday.
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 coordinated suicide bombings and subsequent assaults are the first major attack of its kind to hit Mogadishu this year.
