My new article, "Addressing the Enemy: Al-Shabaab’s PSYOPS Media Warfare" in the @CTCWP Sentinel looking at 6 cases of the Somali jihadi-insurgent group's psychological warfare & information and influence operations:
The case studies examined: (1) January 2020 Manda Bay airfield attack (2) 2010 Mogadishu stalemate & start of Al-Shabab's "jihadi journalism" (3) 2011 Dayniile ambush (4) 2014 Mpeketoni raids (5) Kenya's 2017 general elections (6) 2019 mass shootings & natural disasters in U.S.
In addition to examining specifics of each case, I look at how Al-Shabab attempts to broaden the reach of its PSYOPS propaganda products by attracting attention from external news media. Sometimes successful, its success rate is also mixed.
The article further argues that Al-Shabab's continued media production and media/information warfare capabilities and sophistication are both a demonstration of its continued strength as well as its limitations, particularly in light of its ultimate goal of capturing the state.
My father, of course, caught & just e-mailed me that I plum forgot to include my Ph.D. (McGill) in my brief biographical blurb.
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In a new video, IS-Somalia released footage showing, it says, a multi-hour battle in the Cal Miskaad Mountains between insurgents & Somali Puntland regional state forces backed by U.S. forces and air strikes:
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The "battle" was defensive on IS-Somalia's part, with the militant group saying it was "repelling" a Puntland state attack, aided by U.S. forces & air power, on it in the Cal Miskaad Mountains;
IS-Somalia also shows the training of a handful of fighters it says make up one of its "security detachments," units tasked with assassinations, planting IEDs, & conducting surveillance on Somali government & ATMIS forces, including in & around Mogadishu:
In 2022, Islamic State (IS) claims it or its affiliates carried out 2,058 attacks globally causing 6,881 casualties (killed & wounded), destroying 2,310 houses or residences, 156 heat-sensor cameras (mostly in Iraq), & 865 vehicles of various types.
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Islamic State (IS) claims it carried out attacks in Yemen (1), Uganda (1), Benin (2), Indian-administered Kashmir/"Hind" (2), Iran (2), Palestine (1), Cameroon (7), Philippines (6), Burkina Faso (4), Libya (3), Mali (22), Somalia (32),
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Islamic State (IS) claims it carried out attacks also in: Niger (11), Chad (10), the DRC Congo (167), Mozambique (156), Egypt (95), Pakistan (58), Iraq (484), Syria (297), Nigeria (517), & Afghanistan (181);
IS-Mozambique claims it attacked a "Christian" village in the Palma area in Cabo Delgado province two days ago, killing 2 villagers:
IS-Mozambique claims it attacked a joint Mozambican & Tanzanian army patrol in an ambush in Palma, Cabo Delgado province, destroying 3 vehicles and seizing weapons & ammunition:
IS-Mozambique claims it attacked a joint Mozambican & Tanzanian army patrol in an ambush in Palma, Cabo Delgado province, destroying 3 vehicles and seizing weapons & ammunition:
Starting in 2011, Al-Shabaab began withdrawing, after publicly announcing its intention to do so, from Mogadishu & continued to withdraw from major urban centers in the face of a major AMISOM & Somali government, backed by allied militias in some areas, offensive.
🧵THREAD
AS generally did not choose to make "last stands," unlike Islamic State in Mosul and (to a lesser extent) Raqqa city in 2016-2017, perhaps having learned its lesson during disastrous "Ramadan offensives" in previous years. Insurgent operations & media were interrupted.
🧵THREAD
Today AS is facing a major threat to its territorial occupation & presence in a number of regions (e.g. Hiraan, Galguduud) as Somali federal forces, some clan militias, & ATMIS forces ramp up pressure across multiple regions in an attempt to stretch insurgent forces.
Al-Shabaab funery prayer (salat al-janaza) & burial of Shaykh Nur Mu'alim 'Abdi Rahman, a religious scholar affiliated with the Islamic Courts Union & then Al-Shabaab.
A thread🧵:
Born in 1960/1961 (1380 hijri) in Adan Yabal, Middle Shabelle, he studied in Mogadishu & later at the University of Science and Technology in Yemen & Sudan, memorizing the Qur'an & studying Arabic grammar, Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), & Shafi'i fiqh.
In his final years, he was active in religious missionary propagation (da'wa), influencing many of the "mujahidin & martyrdom-seekers" through his lectures in local mosques.
Al-Shabaab Juba wali Mohamed Abu 'Abdullah led the janaza prayer for the shaykh.