Al-Shabaab: what it is, the harm it does, and how Somalis respond

In short

Al-Shabaab ("the youth" in Arabic) is, in the UN's words, Somalia's "main security threat" (UN Office on Children and Armed Conflict, 2025). This page sets out the facts, the harm, and what Somalis are doing about it.

Where it came from

• 1990s. Its forerunner was al-Ittihad al-Islami, a Salafi armed group (Council on Foreign Relations, backgrounder).
• Early 2000s. Hardliners split off and became the youth militia of the Islamic Courts Union, which took Mogadishu in June 2006 (CFR).
• December 2006. Ethiopian forces entered Somalia and removed the Courts. The group grew from about 400 fighters to several thousand by 2008 (CFR).
• 2008. The United States listed it as a terrorist organisation (CFR).
• 2011. It largely withdrew from Mogadishu after offensives by African Union and Somali forces (CFR).
• 2012. Its leaders declared allegiance to al-Qaeda (CFR).

For the wider history of these years, see rebuilding, 2000 to 2006.

How it funds itself

A UN panel of experts estimated al-Shabaab's income for 2023 at more than $150 million. It takes money by force, which researchers call "taxtortion". It charges at checkpoints, demands zakat by force, extorts businesses, taxes imports, farm produce and water, and kidnaps for ransom (EUAA, Somalia Country Focus, May 2025, section 1.10).

It can force payment even where it has no permanent presence, depending on how strong the local security forces are. Both men and women must pay (EUAA 2025).

The harm to Somalis

• 14 October 2017, Mogadishu. A truck bomb at the Zoobe junction killed more than 500 people, the deadliest attack in Somalia's history. No group claimed it, but al-Shabaab is widely held responsible (CFR; NPR, 2 December 2017).
• 29 October 2022, Mogadishu. Car bombs at the Ministry of Education killed more than 100 people (CFR).
• Abroad. It killed 74 people in Kampala in 2010, 67 at a Nairobi shopping centre in 2013, and 148 at Garissa University in Kenya in 2015 (CFR).
• Punishments. In areas it holds it has carried out stonings and amputations, and it blocks aid agencies, even in drought (CFR). See rain, drought and floods.

How it recruits

The EUAA describes recruitment as a range from willing to forced, drawing on 2023 to 2025 sources (EUAA, Somalia Country Focus, May 2025, section 1.1.1):

• Who. It recruits men and women, from majority and minority groups, as fighters, suicide bombers, informants and helpers. Recruits are usually aged 11 to 25, and some sources report children of nine or younger.
• Grievance. Many Rahanweyn, Somali Bantu (Jareer) and members of smaller Benadir-coast minorities are in al-Shabaab. A former deputy police commissioner told the EUAA that long feelings of being marginalised helped draw them in. One expert said they rarely reach leadership and serve mostly as foot soldiers.
• Control. Where it has ruled for years, joining is "normal", and families may know no other authority.
• Mediation. It settles local clan disputes, then demands young men from the clans it helped.
• Force. It recruits on the spot under threat, and after the 2022 offensive stalled in Galgaduud and Mudug, some communities offered fighters to it to avoid reprisals.
• Pay. It offers pay and support to families. Rank-and-file pay is reported at $200 to $300 a month, similar to a low-rank government soldier.
• Online. It recruits through propaganda videos aimed at Somalia and neighbouring countries.

Children

From October 2021 to September 2024, the UN verified 8,493 grave violations against 6,801 children in Somalia. In that time, 2,821 children were recruited and used by armed groups, and 82% of these cases were by al-Shabaab. Al-Shabaab also carried out most abductions of children (UN Office on Children and Armed Conflict, 10 December 2025).

How Somalis respond

A way out. Many fighters were forced to join. Prospects of amnesty have helped some leave. As of January 2024, five rehabilitation centres in Mogadishu, Kismaayo and Baidoa, and one reception centre in Galmudug, were supporting 215 women and 502 men who had left the group (EUAA 2025).

Communities. In surveys of people in Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle, most said they had lost at least one child to al-Shabaab. Heavy "taxes", humiliation and the taking of children were the main grievances (ACCORD, via ecoi.net, 22 April 2022).

The state and local forces. Local militias known as Macawisley formed in Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle from 2014 (ACCORD 2022). From mid-2022 they fought alongside government forces in an offensive in central Somalia. The offensive took ground, then stalled in parts of Galgaduud and Mudug, where al-Shabaab returned and threatened people who had resisted (EUAA 2025).

Sources

• Council on Foreign Relations. Al-Shabaab backgrounder, updated December 2022.
• EUAA (2025). COI Report Somalia: Country Focus, sections 1.1 and 1.10.
• UN Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict (2025). Somalia: volatile security situation with dramatic impact on children.
• ACCORD (2022). Query response on the Macawiisley militia (German).
• NPR (2017). Mogadishu truck bombs death toll now tops 500, probe committee says.