Armed groups and militias
Hizbul Islam, 2009–2014
Hizbul Islam ('Islamic Party') was an armed Islamist coalition formed in January 2009 from four groups, including Hassan Dahir Aweys's wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia and the Ras Kamboni brigades. It fought the Transitional Federal Government and AU troops, then fought al-Shabaab over Kismayo from October 2009. It was absorbed into al-Shabaab in December 2010, broke away again in September 2012, and renounced violence in 2013.
In short
Hizbul Islam was formed in early 2009, as Ethiopian troops left Somalia and a new transitional government under Sharif Sheikh Ahmed took office. It rejected that government. For about two years it was the second-largest armed opposition after 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.
Four founding groups
Wikipedia records that Hizbul Islam was formed in January 2009 by merging (Wikipedia, Hizbul Islam):
- the Asmara wing of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, led by Hassan Dahir Aweys;
- Jabhatul Islamiya;
- Mu'askar Ras Kamboni, led by Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki (see 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.
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 was forced out of Lower Juba (Wikipedia; Wikipedia, 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 (Wikipedia).
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). 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).
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). Mapping Militants records that the split was over "globalism vs. nationalism" and that the group later renounced violence (Mapping Militants). 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).
Hassan Dahir Aweys left al-Shabaab in 2012, was arrested in 2013 and was placed under house arrest in 2014 (Mapping Militants).
Read the primary sources yourself
- UN Monitoring Group on Somalia, report S/2010/91 (2010): UN document.
- Hiiraan Online, "Hizbul Islam splits with al-Shabaab" (2012): article.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Hizbul Islam · en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, Ras Kamboni Movement · en.wikipedia.org
- Mapping Militant Organizations, al-Shabaab · mappingmilitants.org
- Hiiraan Online, 24 September 2012 · hiiraan.com
- UN document · undocs.org
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Keep reading
- United Somali Congress (USC), 1989–2003The USC, 1989–2003: founding in Rome, Aidid's military wing, the fall of Mogadishu in 1991, the Ali Mahdi and Aidid wings, and what became of them.
- Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), 1985–2004The SPM, 1985–2004: origins, army defections in 1990, the Jess and Morgan wings, Kismayo, the 1998 Jubaland project, and later groups.
- Somali National Front (SNF), 1991–2001The SNF, 1991–2001: who formed it, its leaders, the 1991–92 campaign, Gedo, relations with Ethiopia and al-Itihaad, and its merger into the TNG.
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- Somali National Alliance (SNA)The Somali National Alliance, 1992–2002: how it was formed, its member factions, the war with UNOSOM II, the split with Osman Atto, Hussein Aidid's leadership and its end.
- Somali Democratic Movement (SDM)The Somali Democratic Movement, the Digil and Mirifle movement founded in 1989: its place in the Somali National Alliance, the 1993 Baidoa congress and council, and its successor, the RRA.