An al-Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia, thought to have 10,000-15,000 fighters. Its bases have become a staging ground for attacks abroad: a Kenyan jihadist trained and financed by al-Shabab was convicted in November 2024 in New York of planning a 9/11-style attack in America.
Al-Shabab is said to have been receiving arms and training from the Houthis, the Iranian-backed militia in Yemen. In April 2025 American forces struck boats carrying "advanced conventional weapons" to al-Shabab. In 2025 al-Shabab shelled Mogadishu's international airport and bombed the Somali president's convoy; the president survived but several others were killed. Early gains by the federal government in central Somalia have been reversed, and a growing number of observers fear Mogadishu could fall to the group.
Since Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, there have been at least 19 bombing raids in Somalia over three months—more than the 11 the Biden administration conducted in the whole of 2024, and the highest rate since the first Trump term.
After Israel recognised Somaliland in December 2025, al-Shabab denounced Israel as "the biggest enemy of Islamic society". Both al-Shabab and the Houthis, who are said to be forging an alliance, have threatened to attack Somaliland.
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