Essay on Al-Shabaab: African Terrorist Organization

In the post Osama bin Laden era al-Qaedist ideology is flourishing across the Arab world. A significant development has been the rise of al-Qaeda offshoots in the Middle East. The Abdallah Azzam Brigades franchise has increasingly become a noteworthy actor in terrorism. On May 8th, 2012 Thomas Nides, Deputy Secretary of State designated Abdallah Azzam Brigades as a foreign terrorist organization (Nides, T.R. , 2012). Abdullah Azzam Brigades may have only recently been added as a foreign terrorist group; nevertheless the organization has deep roots, lethal capacity, and is capable of contributing to supplementary instability in the Middle East.

Al-Qaeda is a Sunni sunni Islamistislamist organization that was founded by Osama bin Laden. They have made an impact on many parts of the world. Impacts that would cause casualties that is. Just three organizations Al-Qaeda is tied to are the Haqqani, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and the Taliban. Although Al-Qaeda has few agents left in Afghanistan they still managed and manage to cause devastating acts of violence. One of the ways they were and still are able to make such an impact is by working with other organizations with similar views for their ideal future.

Al-Qaeda is an Arabic term that means “the base” and arguably one of the most dangerous Islamic terrorist organisation in the world.. It was formed by Saudi millionaire Osama Bin Laden in the late 1980’s to resist the Soviet Union, which occurred from 1979 to 1989.The Al-Qaeda group is a large and very complex network which involves many countries and radical Sunni Muslim Organization. Afghanistan became ungoverned for 7 years soon after the Soviet Union withdrew during which the country experienced constant fighting among different groups just within their jurisdiction. This resulted into poverty and many children being orphaned. Most of the Orphans were educated in Islamic schools resulting to the growth of radical students and followers of what became to be known as Al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda’s leadership masterminds a loosely organized network of cells, with a small, mobile and decentralized infrastructure. It recruits members from thousands of Arab Afghan veterans and radicals around the world, with each cell operating independently with its members not knowing the identity of other cells.

The exact size of Al Qaeda is unknown, but the group likely has several thousand fighters. The estimated numbers of people who trained in camps or fought in Afghanistan ranges from 20,000 to 60,000 but these are not all Al Qaeda members. Al Qaeda serves as an umbrella organization that carries out its own terrorist acts as well as a focal point for other extremist groups. Some experts believe that Al Qaeda is an organization in transition. The losses of many of the group's leaders and their base in Afghanistan have disrupted the organization. While Al Qaeda's definitive structure is unknown, experts fear that the organization can continue to operate if they lose senior leaders due to the entrepreneurial spirit in its lower-level fighters.

The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, commonly known as ISIS, has frightened the whole world by committing attacks in the Middle East, Paris, and San Bernardino, California. ISIS claims to be the legitimate ruler of all Muslims and it operates the Muslim world. ISIS was able to expand as the result of local groups conflicts with Western interests. Daniel Byman declares that local groups are attracted to ISIS for genuine conviction. Particularly, young men believe that ISIS is the defender and avenger of Sunnis worldwide. On the other hand, some groups join ISIS for accessibility to financial and technical aid. While , ISIS grows beyond Iraq and Syria, religious intolerance is created. The group delivers its religious beliefs by barbarian acts, such as beheading and rape to intimidate their enemies and obtain supporters.

Al-Qaeda, which means “The Base” is a terrorist group based on extremist Islamic military. Al-Qaeda is an International Terrorist Organization and goal of this group is to make violence, damaged, and abolish no Islamic governments. The group was made by Osama Bin Laden in the late 1980s to throw the Soviets away from Afghanistan. In this mission, Al-Qaeda got a success and they were able to kick out all the Soviets from Afghanistan. This victory builds up a new confidence in this group and they started to grow up rapidly. Since the Al-Qaeda was made it was operating from Afghanistan but in 1991 Al-Qaeda transfer their headquarters to Afghanistan, and Peshawar Pakistan. “Al-Qaeda dedicated itself to further opposing non-Islamic governments in this region with force and violence.

In fact according to Schanzer and Ross the scattered decentralized manner in which Al-Qaeda now operates is even more elusive than it was when they were an organized and centralized organization. Al-Qaeda, can now simply provide a small sum of money to any interested party who promises to attack in its name and they will be assured of an attempt at some act of terror. (2005, p. 22) In short Al-Qaeda has become not only a prominent actor in terrorism but it can be seen as a grass roots umbrella organization for fighting the supposed holy war. This threat leaves life and property at risk, as well as the minds of millions who could find favor in their extremist ideologies. The threat is invasive and evasive, worldwide and the technology as well as skill utilized by terrorists, including those affiliated with Al-Qaeda continues to increase, as does the technology they use to communicate and the many illegal ways in which they obtain funding and support. The Al-Qaeda of yesterday may be history, but the ideologies and the strengths of the organization are not. Osama Bin-Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri as well as the subsequent “leaders” will continue to be seen by many as heroes of a cause for universal social and

Their tiered infrastructure has the Amir or main man up top, the deputy, a command council and six committee’s controlling a slew of operational functions aligned within each (Gunaratna & Oreg, 2010). The formal structure of the organization gives it the strength to analyze, strategize and commit to planned targets while focusing on political, religious and social functions needed to keep affiliations and funding continue. This kind of flexibility of action allows for multiple fronts to move forward with goals and opportunities, however, this flexibility also allowed for too much freedom in the ranks. As detailed by Bin Laden’s frustration with regional Jihad groups whom he could not control, or halt from their domestic attacks that lead to Muslim casualties (Lahoud et al, 2012) With so many moving parts and culture strife with tribalism and a myriad of subset religious ideologies and belief systems it’s hard to maintain one specific jihadist ideology in which all are accepting. Thus, the lack of control is easily identifiable. Leadership should have identified that the radicalized Muslims each have their own cultural, religious, ethnic and localized belief systems that could/ would impede present and future organizational goals. Now let’s add the fact that the all of the higher leadership roles are also trying manage this whole ensemble from the shadows, due to being targeted themselves for capture or death. Remote management is never an easy

The disorder in Somalia that has built up for many years has contributed to the growth of a terrorist group bent on global jihad, al-Shabaab (Ibrahim, 2010). Al-Shabaab is an Islamist group that has been involved in conflict with the Somalian government, and is considered one of the major threats to Somalia’s prospects for peace (Mueller, 2016).

Al-Qaeda is the single largest terrorist group with a worldwide reach. The inception of this group is attributable to the association of Osama bin Laden and other Islamist groups around 1988. The global organization calls for Jihad against the west and Israel sympathizers. It was formed because of the western interference in matters involving the Middle East. The government established by Taliban had ties to the Afghan fighters in the war against the Russian invasion. These fighters were loyal to the Taliban, and they influenced the conscription of more youth into al-Qaeda. The organization was funded by wealthy Arabs and bin Laden’s personal fortune.

However, the mission has not been succeed because of the complexity of problems in the region. The mild protest to the US force during its mission in Somalia now turned in to a networked global terrorism that causes more ghastly condition in the region. Somalia become a safe haven for religious extremism since the collapse of the state. Terrorists are quickly spread over the region as a result of absence of legal government who could control its border. Moreover, the failure to maintain sustainable peace in Somalia has a security significance to the US’s campaign on terror in the Middle East. Bothe the USCENTCOM and USAFRCOM have to support each other in joint operation on terror as to prevent terrorist spillover between the Middle East and the horn of Africa. Al-shabab has already declared that it has ceded his affiliation to al-Qaida and worked hand in hand with other Islamic state militants based in the Middle East. Moreover, its ideology has begun spreading to the neighboring states of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti, and in some cases, the ideology already got its rootedness. Hence, this intricate terrorist network in the horn and the Middle East could tremendously affect the US if the appropriate response will not ensued against terrorist group in Somalia. However, the nature of the tactics employed by this terrorist group makes US direct military force deployment

Many individuals are influenced by religion to join the fight. Islamic extremism is another major reason these terrorist organizations have followers willing to fight for them. “Islamic extremists believe they are obligated to install this form of governance in Muslim-majority territories, countries, and eventually, the entire world. In the minds of Islamic extremists, they are promoting justice and freedom by instituting sharia” (“Understanding Islamist Extremism”). These extreme forms of Islam are what make up the central beliefs of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. They use their religious affiliations to justify their actions. Acts of Islamic extremism include terrorism, human rights abuses, the advancement of sharia-based governance, and overall hostility to the West (“Understanding Islamist Extremism”). While not all extremists use terrorism, it is common among the majority of the

The objectives of the group are to terrorize the U.S. so that it retreats from the world stage and this is a way of achieving its goals. Another objective is to use long wars to bleed the US financially while fueling the anti-American sentiment. They are also committed to defending the rights of Muslims and claim that they wish to dominate the globe through violent Islamic caliphate (Habeck,

In recent years, there have been numerous terrorist activities in the MENA region. Unlike in the past where AQ had a leading role in all terror-related activities, this has not been the case (Holbrook, 2015). Since the killing of AQ’s leader in 2011, the activities of AQ have gradually become devolved and of reduced magnitude. The top-down command structure that the organisation was known for has since disappeared and is hardly witnessed in the activities of the group’s affiliated groups. Instead, each group seems to have its own operational mandates and acts without any clear instructions from the top AQ commanders (Turner, 2015). This is very unusual for AQ which has been known for its effectiveness and efficiency in planning