By the end of March 2025, the Trump administration already launched at least 16 air and drone strikes inside Somalia. In comparison, the Biden administration only launched 10 strikes in 2024.
The Islamic State radicalized Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who killed 14 people in New Orleans on January 1. Subsequent investigations and arrests of additional alleged terrorism plotters by US authorities point to jihadist groups’ continuing propaganda efforts and the threat of attacks on US soil.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, has mounted considerable attacks over the last few weeks in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle and Hiraan regions just north of Mogadishu. The group’s offensive is attempting to reverse much of the federal government’s gains during the government’s counter-Shabaab offensive between 2022 and 2023.
The United States and the United Arab Emirates are conducting airstrikes in northern Somalia in support of Puntland’s military offensive against the local Islamic State branch. Tracking UAE’s strikes in particular, however, is difficult.
In a rare assault, the Islamic State Somalia (ISS) tried—and ultimately failed—to oust Puntland Security Forces (PSF) from a PSF base earlier today. Nonetheless, the attack represents how ISS is growing in strength and capacity.
Shabaab announced the death of Mohamed Mire, a senior official who acted as the group’s so-called “interior emir” and a member of its central shura council.
The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced yesterday that longtime Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu was transferred to his native Kenya. Bajabu’s history presents an interesting historical look into Al Qaeda’s early activities in East Africa, acting as a reminder that the African Jihad, currently the global hotspot of jihadist activity, has been decades in the making.
On December 12, The Somali National Army (SNA) of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) in Mogadishu was routed from the southern Somali town of Ras Kamboni by the regional forces of Jubaland, a federal member state of Somalia. This conflict provides Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, an opportunity to consolidate and rebound from its previous losses.
In the latest issue of its Sada al-Malahem magazine, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) heaped significant praise on recent operations conducted by Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa. The article is another data point regarding the open support between these Al Qaeda branches.
In a coordinated, multi-pronged offensive, Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, assaulted multiple Somali National Army (SNA) bases across southern Somalia’s Lower Juba region yesterday. Each side has claimed victory, with both releasing footage purporting to verify their claims.
Over the last few days, jihadis have mounted two attacks inside prisons in Somalia and Niger. While the mutiny inside the Nigerien prison was successful, the Somali prison assault appears to have been thwarted. Nonetheless, both incidents highlight the lingering threat of jihadi prison breaks on the continent and the importance jihadist groups put on such operations.
In May 2016, the Islamic State (IS) issued a eulogy for the infamous Sudanese jihadist Mohamad Makkawi Ibrahim through its weekly Al-Naba newsletter. The eulogy flew under the radar at the time but offers an interesting look into the career of one of the Islamic State’s first so-called “martyrs” in Somalia. It also provides an early chronicle of the Islamic State’s history in the Horn of Africa.
Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, took responsibility for a suicide car bombing targeting Djiboutian and Somali troops at a military base in central Somalia yesterday. The blast was the 14th suicide bombing conducted by Shabaab so far this year.
Shabaab’s video, which demonstrates its new so-called ‘special forces’ training center, is eerily similar to productions put out by the Afghan Taliban before it took over Afghanistan.
Shabaab continues to undo progress made against it in central Somalia; the United States continues to go after its financials and conducting periodic drone strikes against its forces.
In early 2014, as Muslim civilians were being massacred in Central African Republic as part of a cycle of violence between Muslim and Christian militias, al-Qaeda went on a full-court press in an attempt to foster any jihadist movement to take up arms in the country. These attempts, however, largely fell on deaf ears. As such, this offers a unique glimpse into when, and potentially how, jihadist mobilization attempts fail.
The Islamic State documents at least 36 clashes between its men and Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s East African wing, between March and December 2023.
Three Shabaab members were killed in what U.S. Africa Command described as a “collective self-defense airstrike” in the Lower Juba region. Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, remains a dangerous threat.
Ali Mohamud Rage, Shabaab’s spokesman, says the al-Qaeda branch is willing to spill blood over the recent Red Sea access deal signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland.
The man reportedly traveled from Egypt to Kenya, where he planned to use Shabaab facilitators to cross into Somalia. The American citizen was motivated by his support of Hamas and desire to target the U.S. for its support of Israel.
Mahad Karate, a senior official and a deputy emir of Shabaab, al-Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, again named several al-Qaeda leaders present in Mogadishu during the infamous ‘Black Hawk Down’ incident in 1993.
Abukar Ali Adan, the deputy leader of Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch in East Africa, is a dangeorus commander who has led the group’s military wing and has ties to other Al Qaeda branches in African and on the Arabian Peninsula.
Featuring many women and children, Shabaab’s large protests in southern Somalia sought to put the current fighting in Israel and Palestine into the context of global jihad.
Shabaab congratulates Palestinian militant factions for their “victories” over Jews. This is not the first time Shabaab has interjected itself into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Shabaab denied “randomly” targeting civilians in its suicide bombings. This is a mischaracterization of the data on its suicide campaign.
At least 14 successful or attempted suicide bombings were reported in Somalia in September. This is the single highest monthly total since Shabaab began its suicide bombing operations in 2006.
AFRICOM has launched four airstrikes against Al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia this month as it continues to provide air support for the Somali National Army.
In the face of delayed or stalled offensive action taken against it, Shabaab seeks to rally its forces.
Though Somalia says the raid was repelled, the major attack nevertheless came just days after a similar raid was conducted on a Ugandan military base in southern Somalia.
The massive raid comes as Shabaab is facing its biggest challenge to its rule and territory in over a decade.