# Hizbul Islam, 2009–2014

> Hizbul Islam, 2009–2014: the four founding groups, its leaders, war with al-Shabaab over Kismayo, absorption in 2010, the 2012 break and the turn to politics.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/institutions/hizbul-islam/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

Hizbul Islam was formed in early 2009, as Ethiopian troops left Somalia and a new transitional government under [Sharif Sheikh Ahmed](/en/people/sharif-sheikh-ahmed/) took office. It rejected that government. For about two years it was the second-largest armed opposition after [al-Shabaab](/en/history/al-shabaab/), which first fought beside it, then against it, and finally took it over. The period is told in [2007–2012: Insurgency, Djibouti process, and the end of transition](/en/history/rebuilding-2007-2012/).

## Four founding groups

Wikipedia records that Hizbul Islam was formed in January 2009 by merging ([Wikipedia, Hizbul Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)):

- the Asmara wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, led by [Hassan Dahir Aweys](/en/people/hassan-dahir-aweys/);
- Jabhatul Islamiya;
- Mu'askar Ras Kamboni, led by [Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki](/en/people/hassan-abdullah-hersi-al-turki/) (see [Raskamboni movement](/en/institutions/raskamboni-movement/));
- Mu'askar Anole.

On 7 February 2009 it announced it would keep fighting the new government and AU forces in Mogadishu (same source, citing allAfrica).

## Leaders

- **Omar Iman Abubakar**, first chairman, 7 February–26 May 2009.
- **Hassan Dahir Aweys**, chairman from 26 May 2009 until the group was absorbed on 20 December 2010.

([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam))

## Fighting with al-Shabaab, 2009–2010

From 1 October 2009 Hizbul Islam and al-Shabaab fought over Kismayo. Al-Shabaab won and expelled the Ras Kamboni fighters; in November 2009 the faction of [Ahmed Madobe](/en/people/ahmed-madobe/) was forced out of Lower [Juba](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam); [Wikipedia, Ras Kamboni Movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_Kamboni_Movement)). In February 2010 Hassan al-Turki's branch announced a merger with al-Shabaab. In late 2010 Hizbul Islam lost its positions in Bay and gave up [Luuq](/en/regions/gedo/) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)).

In April 2010 the BBC reported that the group had banned radio stations in its areas from playing music (same source, citing BBC News, 13 April 2010).

## Absorbed, December 2010

From mid-December 2010 al-Shabaab fighters took over Hizbul Islam positions, and on 20 December 2010 the group was dissolved into al-Shabaab ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)). Stanford's Mapping Militants project records that the two groups had co-operated in mid-2009 before clashing, and that some observers saw the late-2010 merger as a takeover ([Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## The break of 2012 and after

In September 2012 Hizbul Islam announced that its former members would leave al-Shabaab, citing differences over foreign fighters and al-Shabaab's global aims ([Hiiraan Online, 24 September 2012](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Sept/26102/hizbul_islam_splits_with_al_shabaab.aspx)). Mapping Militants records that the split was over "globalism vs. nationalism" and that the group later renounced violence ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)). Wikipedia dates the renunciation to 2013, and records that in June 2014 a former official said it would continue as a political party named Istiqlal ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbul_Islam)).

Hassan Dahir Aweys left al-Shabaab in 2012, was arrested in 2013 and was placed under house arrest in 2014 ([Mapping Militants](https://mappingmilitants.org/profiles/al-shabaab)).

## Read the primary sources yourself

- UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, report S/2010/91 (2010): [UN document](https://www.undocs.org/S/2010/91).
- [Hiiraan Online](/en/economy/somali-media-companies/), "Hizbul Islam splits with al-Shabaab" (2012): [article](https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2012/Sept/26102/hizbul_islam_splits_with_al_shabaab.aspx).

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