MOGADISHU (Halbeeg)- The Department of State has amended the designation of Al-Shabab, which has been fighting Somali government since 2007.
The group carries out deadly attacks against Somali and continental troops in Somalia.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qa’ida affiliate in Somalia was designated as Foreign Terrorist Organisation in 2008 by the government of the United States.
According to a statement, Al-Hijra and other aliases subsidiaries of Al-Shabab have been added to al-Shabaab’s designations as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The Department of State said these aliases were enlisted as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224.
The statement says the Department of State also completed al-Shabaab’s legally required five-year FTO review and determined that the designation would be maintained.
The statement notified that the U.S. public and the international community that Al-Hijra is an alias of Al-Shabab.
Al-Hijra, formed in 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya serves as a wing of al-Shabaab.
Al-Hijra, which is extensively interconnected with Al-Shabab both organizationally and operationally, consists primarily of Kenyan and Somali followers of Al-Shabab in East Africa.
It has openly engaged in Al-Shabab recruiting in Kenya and facilitated travel of al-Shabaab members to Somalia for terrorism purposes.
Since Al-Shabaab’s initial 2008 FTO designation, it has killed numerous civilians throughout East Africa.
Al-Shabab’s attacks included the October 2017 attack in Mogadishu where the group detonated a truck bomb that killed over 500 people.
The group also launched deadly attacks in several towns in Kenya and Uganda.
In September 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Kenya that killed more than 70 people, and the July 2010 suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda that took place during the World Cup and killed 76 people, including one U.S. citizen.
Discussion about this post