Why is Donald Trump in the fight against the Islamic State in Somalia?
More and more foreign fighters are joining the group, increasing their strengths in terms of numbers and expertise.
The main source of IS-Somalia recruits is believed to be Ethiopian immigrants who gathered in the Pantoland port city of Bosaso, hoping to cross the sea for better life abroad.
It offers better salaries than earning in the Gulf countries, and experts say some of the group’s senior commanders are Ethiopians.
“We rated Somalia as more than 80% of foreign fighters, mainly from North Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania and the Middle East,” Mubarak said.
He estimates the group is about 1,000 strong. The UN Monitor has made it about 600-700.
Last October, the principal of US African Command Michael Langley said he believes he has grown nearly twice as many times in northern Somalia in a year.
The group staged one of the most sophisticated attacks in December, striking military bases in the Bali region of Pantoland.
The group issued a statement saying that no single Somalia was involved. The 12 attackers came from seven countries: Tanzania, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Ethiopia.
The movement is also effective in raising funds.
US, UN and Somali experts have a key part of IS Financial Infrastructure (Alkara Office) based in Pantoland, and funding and expertise in other sectors of the African and later group. It says it is paying for.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said IS-Somalia raised nearly $2 million in the first half of 2022 by taxing local businesses, imports, nomads and farmers.
Air support proves invaluable for Pantland’s military to successfully eliminate extremists.
Shortly after the US strike, Pantland police said Abdirahman Shirwa, the head of Is-Somalia’s assassination squad, had surrendered.
However, experts say such strikes need to be consistent to drive existing IS cells in Somalia.
It is unclear whether the US and its unpredictable leaders have an appetite that continues to bomb the mountains northeast of Somalia.
Mary Harper has written two books on Somalia. This sees life under al-Shabaab, including that everything you said to me is true.