Hizbul Shabaab

Hizbul Shabaab (Arabic, "The Party of Youth")[1] or Al-Shabaab (Arabic, "The Youth") is the militant youth movement wing of the Islamic Courts Union, and described as an extremist splinter group. However, the term "Shabaab" is common in the Islamic world for youth groups, and Hizbul Shabaab should not be confused with other more peaceful endeavors.

Shabbab is the a hard-line faction within the Islamic Courts Union (ICU)[1] designated as an Islamic terrorist group.

• Top on the agenda is the establishment of the rule of sharia.
• The group was founded in 2004[2].
• It recruits jihadists to wage war against enemies of Islam.
• Their core comprised veterans who fought and defeated the secular Mogadishu warlords of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) at the Second Battle of Mogadishu.[2]
• Their origins are not clearly known, but former members say Hizbul Shabaab was founded as early as 2004.
• Before the losses sustained by the Islamic Courts Union in December 2006, estimates of their strength varied between 3,000 to 7,000 members.
• Members earned a salary of $70 a month, paid for by their leader, Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" (or Ayro). Training comprised a six-week basic course. A few were sent to advanced training in Eritrea for guerrilla tactics and explosives.[3]
• On June 10, 2006 a report in The Guardian stated, "An unnamed network run by one of Aweys's proteges, Aden Hashi Farah "Ayro", has been linked to the murder of four western aid workers and more than a dozen Somalis who allegedly cooperated with counter-terror organisations."[4]
  On June 15, 2006 the leader of Al-Shabaab, Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", was said to have taken a load of arms sent from Eritrea [5] (see page 12).
  On July 26, 2006, Sheikh Mukhtar Roboow "Abu-Mansuur" was reported accepting another load of arms from Eritrea[5] (see page 15).
• In July, 720 Somali volunteers were selected by Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" to travel to Lebanon to fight against the Israelis. Of those, only 80 returned to Mogadishu.
• In September, another 20 returned, along with five members of Hizbollah.[5] (see page 24).
• The bankruptcy of a remittance company, Dalsan, International, whose staff included the brother of Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", involved the suspicious disappearance of $10 million dollars. It was alleged, "an ICU military leader managed to divert a large amount of money to help financially support the organization in their fight for the control of Mogadishu during the June 2006 confrontation with the former counter terrorism alliance"[5] (see page 39).
• (Also see ARPCT, Second Battle of Mogadishu)
• As of January 6, 2007, after the Fall of Mogadishu and Kismayo to the TFG, the leaders of the Shabaab were in hiding still at large.[6]
• A member of the disbanded group said they once numbered about 1,000 (lower than other claims by former members), but they do not have any weapons any more. Still, there was support for the call of Al-Qaeda leaders to maintain jihad against the Ethiopians and secular government.[7]

-Wikipedia

This has been posted here in light of the possiblity that it will disapear at some point, as much data about islamist terror groups seems to disappear from Wikipepia over time. As of the date of this post, this data was present in Wikipeida.

Since January of 2007, the Shabaab has regrouped and at least been rearmed. The continue to participate in insurgent activitiy in Somalia.

They have showed some independance of the Islamic Courts Union, in that that they refused to participate in the Summit meetings at Kismayo in Eriteria. THe Islamic Courts Unions did participate.

Their communication appears to be multi-national-Islamist Umma expansion, more interested in Salafist doctrine than in peace for Somalia...

-Shimron

Burundi PeaceKeepers in Somalia

By Aweys Yusuf and Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A first contingent of 100 peacekeepers from Burundi deployed in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday, hours after fighting between Islamist rebels and government forces killed at least four people.

The arrival of the Burundian soldiers in the rubble-strewn city marked the first phase of long-delayed support for 1,600 Ugandan troops who began work in March as the vanguard of a planned 8,000-strong African Union (AU) mission.

"One hundred peacekeepers from Burundi have just landed here," Captain Paddy Ankunda, the AU force spokesman, told Reuters at Mogadishu's heavily guarded international airport.

Burundi's government had pledged to send about 1,700 troops to Somalia's capital. They were meant to arrive in July, but their deployment was repeatedly delayed.

In Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, an army spokesman said the rest of the contingent of two battalions of 850 soldiers each should be on the ground within the next two weeks.

"The team went to prepare the ground for the rest of the troops," Colonel Adolphe Manirakiza told Reuters.

Without support, the Ugandans have been restricted to guarding Mogadishu's sea and air ports and presidential palace, as well as providing security for top government officials.

Fierce battles broke out overnight in northern neighbourhoods of the city as Islamist-led insurgents attacked government security forces and their Ethiopian allies.


The Rest @ Reuters Africa

Somalia's Presidenten Rebukes His Security Aides

By Aweys Yusuf and Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Somalia's president rebuked his top security aides on Saturday after insurgent attacks on police stations that killed five people overnight highlighted precarious security in the capital Mogadishu.

President Abdullahi Yusuf called the meeting to deal with persistent violence by remnants of a militant Islamist group his government ousted with Ethiopian military help in the New Year.

"The president called the cabinet ministers, the head of the police force and mayor of Mogadishu to discuss about the security of Mogadishu," an aide who declined to be named told Reuters.

A legislator close to the president who confirmed the meeting said Yusuf was not pleased with the performance of his security forces. In some cases, newly trained policemen or soldiers have fled their positions after coming under attack.

"He is not happy with the lack of coordination and accountability," the legislator told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Yusuf, whose interim government is struggling to impose its authority on the Horn of Africa nation since it routed the sharia courts groups, also wanted a full accounting of all soldiers and their pay.

"The president said he wants a thorough census of the exact number of the government troops to be aware of their payments," the aide said.

The meeting came after insurgents attacked police stations across Mogadishu overnight, killing at least two police officers and three civilians, witnesses said. Officials denied any officers were killed.

The worst-hit was the police station in Hodan in northern Mogadishu, an insurgent stronghold.

"They torched the police station and escaped. We are chasing them. We have the names of people involved in that attack and we will seize them," Mogadishu Deputy Mayor Abdifitah Ibrahim Shaweye said.

The Rest @ Reuters Africa