Kampala — Al-Shabaab, the Somali militant group that claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts in Kampala on July 11, though born and bred in Somalia, is a many-faced beast that has fed on the blood of fighters drawn from round the extremist Muslim world.Its name translates as "the youth" in English. Though acting on the sidelines at its birth, it gradually grew into the hardline role of the radical Islamic Courts Union (ICU) which briefly ruled Somalia between 2005 and 2006. The ICU had kicked out the warlords who were perpetuating a ruinous civil war, and established a semblance of order.Its name translates as "the youth" in English. Though acting on the sidelines at its birth, it gradually grew into the hardline role of the radical Islamic Courts Union (ICU) which briefly ruled Somalia between 2005 and 2006. The ICU had kicked out the warlords who were perpetuating a ruinous civil war, and established a semblance of order.But in late 2006, the Ethiopian army invaded Somalia and evicted the fundamentalist Islamists from power. The ICU split into several fighting groups but for a time they seemed harmless.The young militants, however, slowly began to forge something that would be driven by a most radical brand of Islam. By 2007, they were hell-bent on a mission to overthrow the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which was cobbled together under the auspices of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.Where they are in control today (mainly over a large swathe of southern Somalia), al Shabaab has banned TV and radio, ordered women to wear veils and introduced the slicing off of limbs as a form of punishment.Their war object has changed into a death race against what they call "the enemies of Islam" even as they seek to impose a harsh form of Sharia law which analysts say will turn Somalia into a 7th century Islamic state.Courting al Qaeda
That objective while intimidating enough, took on sinister proportions when al Shabaab's leaders started to court the international terrorist network, al Qaeda in 2007. The courtship was consummated into a deadly union of anarchists when the group's leadership was usurped by the foreign jihadists, most of whom fled the NATO onslaught after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan.Today, the African Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (Amisom) is aware of Pakistanis, Saudi Arabians, Yemenis and Sudanese acting as the puppet masters of this estimated 4,000-strong outfit.Amisom Spokesperson, Uganda's Maj. Barigye Ba-Hoku says their leader, Sheikh Ahmed Abdi Godane, is a Yemeni national. It is hard to imagine that at one time this fearsome organisation took direction from the current Somali president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who was head of the ICU. Today, Sheikh Sharif and his TFG government are high value targets for the al Shabaab.Sheikh Godane took over from Abu Mansoor, the man he used to advise. Mansoor was eliminated in an airstrike carried out by American forces in 2009. Godane has organised the terror outfit with a recognisable chain of command not unlike al Qaeda.AMISOM intelligence indicates that there are individuals assigned to financing operations; people charged with recruiting, training and preparing suicide bombers; the necessary intelligence gathering arm is also very active and coordinates with a network of operations and training advisers.Abu Sulaiman Al-Babadir, a Yemeni, heads intelligence. Abu Musa Mombasa, a Pakistani, runs security operations. He replaced Salah Ali Nabhan in 2009, who was killed in US aerial raids; Abu Nasur Al-Maliki is the moneyman who manages the payroll of foreign fighters. He is a US citizen. Others are Mohammed Mujajir, a Sudanese national who heads recruitment of suicide bombers; Sheikh Mohamed Abufaid, a Saudi, is the chief of finance and Fazul Abdul Mohamed, a Yemeni, is adviser of the leader.Some security assessments profile Fazul as the most dangerous man in the East African region. He is said to have planned a recent suicide attack that killed three TFG ministers at a graduation party in Mogadishu.
The al Shabaab appears to relish its membership in the international brotherhood of jihadi groups. From 2008, it launched a fevered campaign of self promotion in cyber space.Since then, al Shabaab has had the ingredients to turn itself into more of an international threat: a savvy communications operation; an expatriate Somali population from which to recruit; charismatic figures it could send out to attract followers; and a proven capacity, after this weekend, to operate in foreign countries. The Kampala attack might represent a bid by more ambitious members of the group to ally it more closely with Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda's affiliates.
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