Saturday, August 31, 2019

Al-Shabaab's Tax Racket in Somalia

The Washington Post published on 30 August 2019 an article titled "'If I Don't Pay, They Kill Me': Al-Shabaab Tightens Grip on Somalia with Growing Tax Racket" by Omar Faruk and Max Bearak.

The al-Shabaab terrorist organization in Somalia finances much of its activity by extorting money from Somali business persons. The authors state that the growth of al-Shabaab's tax revenue stands at odds with the federal government's claims that the insurgency is on it back foot--and in sharp contrast to the U.S. military's claims that its operations in Somalia are weakening the insurgency.