Al-Shabaab remains a threat to the region despite Amisom offensives-IGAD report

Despite sustained offensive against Al-Shabaab in Somalia and counter-terrorism efforts by East African countries, the militant group Al-Shabaab is still a portent threat to the region, the regional body IGAD has said in a report.

The 53 page report titled Al-Shabaab as a Transnational Security Threat notes the group’s heightened operational tempo and effectiveness illustrates its confidence in the face of renewed Amisom offensive operations. “This appears to represent a concerted effort both to regain the initiative within Somalia and to undermine support for Amisom mission within troop contributing countries and their international partners,” the report says.

VBIED technology

The report also points to the increasing use of vehicle born explosive devices, VBIED, a common method deployed by Al-Shabaab especially in Mogadishu calling on IGAD countries to device countermeasures and improved information sharing within the region.

Somalia’s intelligence agency, NISA has on a number of occasions impounded vehicles loaded with explosives with gas cylinders being a common feature especially as the use of gas cookers in Mogadishu gains traction.

The report also raises concern about the expansion of Al-Shabaab surrogates outside Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya to new geographical areas. Prisons in Kenya have increasingly become recruiting cells for Al-Shabaab cells such as Al-Hijra and Jaysh Ayman, the report says.

ISIL link

The ISIL link to Al-Shabaab remains a fast emerging threat in the region also, the report notes. Though there have not been credible information to establish the link, the defection of Al-Shabaab members to join ISIL or travel to Syria is an indication of transnational nature of terror in the region.

“Evidence obtained by Kenyan authorities since early 2015 has identified two recruiting cells who together enlisted at least thirty potential recruits aspiring to join ISIS. Over half of these individuals were fully committed to travelling and were in the process of obtaining documentation for travel to Syria,” the report added.

A former British based preacher based in north-eastern Somalia’s Galgala mountain ranges Sheikh Abdulqadir Mumin last year declared his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL, a development which led to a purge of his followers by Al-Shabaab leadership.

The report recommends among other initiatives the cooperation and inclusion of such countries as Tanzania which is not a member of IGAD in counter-terrorism measures. Tanzania is the second largest source of Al-Shabaab recruits outside Somalia after Kenya.