Alshbaab has suffered many defeats, and has by now withdrawn from all of the larger cities in Somalia, as well as losing its leader in 2014. Its external ally Al-Qaeda has been challenged by Islamic State. Yet Al-shabaab has also shown itself to be able to launch heavy attacks behind enemy lines, even against the Kenyan military inside Kenya. The organization has also dwarfed many predictions: it has not moved its center of operations to northern Somalia; it has not collapsed due to internal conflict; it has not extended its targets internationally and thus became more externally-focused; and, last but not least, it has not been vanquished, despite annual predictions stating that the organization will collapse.
What Al-shabaab has done is to regionalize its networks, holding territory in some regions, existing as a clandestine group in others, and as a loose network outside Somalia. Al-shabaab now offers an increasingly interesting case of a jihadii organization surviving in a post- territorial phase.
The researcher has a book published on the Muslim rebels in Somalia and is available for purchase.
What Al-shabaab has done is to regionalize its networks, holding territory in some regions, existing as a clandestine group in others, and as a loose network outside Somalia. Al-shabaab now offers an increasingly interesting case of a jihadii organization surviving in a post- territorial phase.
The researcher has a book published on the Muslim rebels in Somalia and is available for purchase.
