Thursday, March 29, 2018

Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State in Somalia

The CTC Sentinel published in March 2018 a study titled "Black Banners in Somalia: The State of al-Shabaab's Territorial Insurgency and the Specter of the Islamic State" by Christopher Anzalone, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The author concludes that militarily al-Shabaab retains significant capabilities to launch a range of attacks targeting both military and soft targets, including major suicide-vehicle bombings inside the most secure areas of the country such as central Mogadishu. The Islamic State in Somalia, al-Shabaab's main jihadi competitor, continues to lag behind it in terms of numbers, military capabilities, and media reach.