Al-Shabaab (Mozambique)

The group calls itself Ahlu Sunna Wal Jammah (ASWJ), or the derivatives Ahlu al-Sunna, al-Sunnah, or Swahili Sunna. According to historian Eric Morier-Genoud, the term is commonly used by Muslims in northern Mozambique to identify the broader (mainstream) Muslim community in the region; and many locals therefore rejected the militants' appropriation of the name. The group is known to locals as al-Shabaab, == Organisation and structure ==

Ideology and objectives Al-Shabaab has been described as Islamist in its ideology and objectives, insofar as it views the significance of Islam in political as well as religious terms. but in 2020, al-Shabaab members were filmed announcing to a local population that, "We want everyone here to apply Islamic law... We don't want a government from unbelievers, we want a government from Allah." Composition Al-Shabaab's primary base is Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province, which is not only a Muslim-majority province but also one of Mozambique's poorest; Many of the group's members are young people lacking formal employment and schooling (many are petty traders or fisherman), Similarly, there is debate about the extent to which al-Shabaab is a "homegrown" Mozambican group. International Crisis Group reports that it incorporates a sizeable contingent of foreign fighters, many of them from neighbouring Tanzania, and many of them former acolytes of Aboud Rogo, a Kenyan cleric who was linked both to al-Qaeda and to Somalia's al-Shabaab before his assassination in 2012. Other accounts point to foreign radicalizing influences, including foreign ideologues such as Rogo and the Wahhabism inherited by Mozambican students who studied abroad in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, or Sudan. According to the United States Department of State, al-Shabaab is led by Abu Yasir Hassan, Members have been trained locally – by hired Islamic militants from elsewhere in East Africa, or by disgruntled former police officers and security force members – or, in some cases, travelled abroad to train with other militant groups. == History ==

Origins , where al-Shabaab is active. The precise origins of al-Shabaab are not clear. Most accounts trace the group's emergence to 2013 or 2014. In 2021, in a new phase of the war – now involving Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping troops – observers described al-Shabaab as capable of launching sophisticated attacks, although it had not yet demonstrated, for example, explosive device capabilities. The mission also said that, in early February 2022, the group's fighting force had dwindled, from an estimated 3,000 troops to only 300 – though other observers estimated closer to 1,000 remained active. International Crisis Group said that the decrease in numbers was "mainly because many foreign jihadists have fled the country while Mozambican insurgents have melted into the civilian population rather than surrender or be killed". == Relationship with the Islamic State ==

. Al-Shabaab was officially affiliated with an Islamic State branch, the Central African Province (ISCAP), although it is not clear if all members of al-Shabaab endorsed this identification. According to the United States Department of State, the Islamic State announced the launch of ISCAP in April 2019 and it acknowledged al-Shabaab as an affiliate in August 2019, although al-Shabaab may have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State as early as April 2018. During the rest of 2019, the Islamic State's media claimed responsibility for thirteen additional attacks in Mozambique under the ISCAP banner. Thereafter, however, Islamic State propaganda about ISCAP activities in Mozambique has been somewhat sparse – it took two weeks to claim al-Shabaab's 2020 seizure of Mocímboa da Praia, for example – possibly due to resource constraints at Islamic State Central. Although reports stated that the ISIS affiliation had led to a large influx of foreign fighters which had amounted to a virtual takeover of al-Shabaab, most observers believe that al-Shabaab remains substantively autonomous from the Islamic State. According to the Combating Terrorism Center, it and other African affiliates of the Islamic State have "historically evolved under their own steam and acted with a significant degree of autonomy". Al-Shabaab also has few visible ties to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), ISCAP's second wing, which is based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where it has mounted a geographically and politically distinct insurgency of its own. Although there is evidence of contact between the ADF and al-Shabaab (including reports which state that some al-Shabaab leaders were trained in Congo several years ago), and although ADF-affiliated Ugandans have been arrested in Mozambique, they remain functionally "distinct groups with distinct origins". Some reports have also suggested that religious, commercial, and military links exist – particularly via assistance with training – between al-Shabaab and other "radical Islamist" groups in Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya and the broader Great Lakes Region. == War crimes ==

Observers charge al-Shabaab militants with numerous war crimes, including the mass murder of civilians on various occasions. In addition, the group has been accused by UNICEF and Human Rights Watch of recruiting thousands of child soldiers. Some rebel fighters were reportedly as young as twelve. (June 2020) == Terrorist designation ==

In March 2021, the United States designated al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization, and also designated its leader, Hassan, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. == References ==