An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 23 country of providing arms, financial aid and personnel to militia groups, including Al-Shabaab, in southern So- malia's conflict zones. While the Eritrean government has denied these allegations, UN officials have stated that 'plane loads of weapons originating in Eritrea have landed in Somalia and have been distributed to anti- government forces. Al-Shabaab, similar to Somalia's other insurgent groups, has a variety of sources of funding. One of these is cuts taken from ransoms that Somali pirates receive from international shipping companies who pay to have their ships and crews returned to them after they have been hijacked in the Indian Ocean. Since losing control of the vital port of Kismayo, Al-Shabaab has lost one source of revenue that it received from a cut of the country's lucrative charcoal trade. The group also raises money through the illegal ivory trade and it has been accused of being responsible for killing elephants in Kenya for their ivory and for killing rangers hired to protect them. The insurgents lost popular support in some regions when they threatened and kidnapped foreign aid workers and refused permission for food aid to be distributed to those in need. However, this ban on foreign aid has been lifted, allow- ing some relief through. Al-Shabaab's forces are mobile, using a variety of SUVs, and are armed with GPMGs, RPGs and AK assault rifles. They have also used suicide bombers to attack targets. Though the group does not possess any heavy weapons their tactics are hit-and-run attacks against mostly soft targets. The group's deadliest opera- tions were the recent attack on the university in Garrissa, Kenya, which killed almost 150 students, and the attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013, which killed over 60. Other audacious raids by the group include a surprise attack on the presidential residence at Villa Somalia, in Mogadishu on 21st February 2014. A vehicle-borne improvised explo- sive device had breached the concrete barrier surrounding the palace allowing ten armed insurgents to penetrate the compound. The attackers, who were all wearing suicide vests, fought a lengthy gun-battle with presidential guards before the assault ended when Somali government troops and their allies from the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), reinforced the guards and retook several key buildings. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was unharmed but five palace guards were killed along with the deputy intelligence chief, Mohamed Nur Shirbow, and Mohamed Abdulle, a close aid to the prime minister. The government forces killed all the attackers during the operation. This attack was followed by a ground assault by Somali government forces supported by Ethiopian troops that seized El Garas in the Galguduud province, an important and significant insurgent stronghold, as the village was used both as a forward operating base to launch attacks and a supply storage area. In September 2014 a US drone attack killed Al-Shabaab's leader, Ahmed Godane. It has been reported that French intelligence had identified the vehicle Godane would be in and also the route he was taking. (The French government personally held Godane responsible for the abduction of two French agents in 2009, which ended in the execution of the operatives, after an unsuccessful rescue attempt by comman- dos in 2013.) With the help of US intelligence, neighbouring African states such as Kenya and Uganda have foiled major Al- Shabaab terrorist attacks in their countries, resulting in the capture of militant cells and the recovery of suicide vests, explosives and small arms. While the organisation has been driven from many of its strongholds by a combined offensive launched by African Union forces along with the Somali army, and supported by a series of US drone strikes that have killed some of the group's leaders, Al- Shabaab have still managed to wage their insurgency campaign. They have increased their hit-and-run attacks, recently targeting Somali lawmakers in an attempt to topple the Western-backed Mogadishu government and impose sharia law. While some military analysts believe the insurgent group are a spent force, attacks such as this and the awful slaughter of Christian students at the university in Garrissa prove other- wise. Meanwhile, the people of Somalia are trying desperately to leave behind decades of war and bloodshed. Members of Al-Shabaab ride in a pick-up truck near Mogadishu. © NBC News Al-Shabaab fighters display weapons as they conduct military exercises in northern Mogadishu, Somalia. © AP/Mohamed Sheikh Nor Al-Shabab fighters march during military exercise on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia. ©AP/ Mohamed Sheikh Nor

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