Special to WorldTribune.com
Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) reach in Africa has expanded as the spiritual leader of Al-Shabaab, in a video message, pledged his loyalty to the terror organization.
In the video, Abdul Qadir Mumin, who ranks high in Al-Shabaab’s power structure, and several other of the group’s jihadists based in Somalia’s Central Region, swear their allegiance to ISIL.
About 100 mostly younger members of Al-Shabaab’s estimated 1,400 jihadists are expected to join ISIL.
Experts say that any new additions to the ISIL juggernaut is important as the terror group extends its reach from the Middle East to North Africa through Libya, then to West Africa through Nigeria’s Boko Haram and now to East Africa, potentially as far as the borders of Kenya.
“The Islamic State has been trying to recruit Somalis and members of Al-Shabaab for a while, it helps ISIL color in their map just that bit more,” said a Somali intelligence source.
The move also fractures Al-Shabaab, whose leaders had pledged loyalty to Al Qaida in 2012. Sources told CNN that Al-Shabaab’s secret police, the Amniyat, have jailed fighters who they believed would switch their allegiance from Al Qaida to ISIL.
A Western diplomat in Somalia told CNN the defections show that ISIL may be more appealing to younger jihadists.
“What does ISIL hold for these disaffected members of Al-Shabaab?” asked the western diplomat. “What is the ‘wedding gift,’ so to speak? This is about technical expertise and funding. Al-Shabaab’s money streams are being depleted by the current war. ISIL could be seen as really attractive on one hand, and dangerous on another. This is a sort of terrorists’ conundrum.”
Al-Shabaab’s current leader, Ahmad Umar, remains loyal to Al Qaida and is said to be using the defections to ISIL as a way to eliminate members who have spoken against his leadership.
“This … iron fist policy … has caused discontent in the ranks of the Mujahideen,” a source close to Al-Shabaab told CNN. “Many Muhajirs (foreign fighters and members of the diaspora) were trying to leave and the harakah (leadership) is trying to make them stay.”
Spiritual leader of Somali-based Al-Shabaab pledges allegiance to ISIL added by World Tribune on
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