Thursday September 12, 2024
By Mohammed Omar Ahmed
(Bloomberg) -- Islamic State in Somalia, the global terrorist group’s affiliate in the Horn of Africa, has grown in influence through its ability to mobilize funds for disbursement to the network on the continent, according to the International Crisis Group.
Although the jihadist group’s impact at home is overshadowed by bigger rival al Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaeda, it appears to play an outsized role in the global operations of the Islamic State, the Brussels-based organization said in a report.
“It has emerged as a key component of the Islamic State’s network, in large part because it can raise substantial revenue, largely through extortion,” ICG said in the report. “It has sent funds to branches throughout Africa and reportedly even as far away as Afghanistan.”
Other than shaking down businesses in Puntland’s seaport city of Bosasso, IS-Somalia exports small quantities of gold mined in the north-eastern Bari region, where it is based. The US estimates it’s accumulated as much as $6 million since 2022, ICG says.
With only about 500 fighters holed up in the caves of Puntland’s Cal Miskaat mountains, IS-Somalia has limited territorial reach and has claimed less than a dozen raids since 2023, compared to about 60 attacks in 2019. Half of its militants are foreign, drawn from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Yemen, and last year, authorities arrested four Moroccans on suspicion of belonging to its ranks.
Its leader, Abdulkadir Mumin, split from al Shabaab to form the group nine years ago and was the target of a US airstrike in May, according to the ICG. He’s now in charge of a wider region after IS instructed affiliates in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Mozambique to report to Somalia.
The unit has remained resilient against the Puntland government due in part to its location in the rugged and isolated mountains, but also because of the interclan animosity that pervades most of Somalia’s politics, ICG said. Al Shabaab, which controls swathes in the central and south of the nation, has also failed to overpower it through military means and considers the smaller rival a thorn in the flesh for enticing away dissatisfied fighters.
Efforts to stamp out the group have failed due to disputes between Somalia’s government and authorities of the semi-autonomous Puntland, ICG said, urging closer coordination by the two.
They should “set aside their differences in order to forge a united front against the group, while also encouraging defections and addressing the grievances of communities that host IS-Somalia,” ICG said.