Nairobi, Kenya — The International Crisis Group says Islamic State in Somalia has become an important financial influence for terrorism, and a report suggests the leader of the branch might become the new overall head of the militant group.
IS-Somalia is not as active on the battlefield as its local counterpart, the al-Qaida-linked terror group al-Shabab, which controls large parts of southern and central Somalia, but it is building relations with other IS branches, the International Crisis Group said in a report released Thursday.
In addition, the report says, IS-Somalia is able to finance terror operations in other African countries.
Omar Mahmood, a senior researcher with the International Crisis Group, or ICG, said IS-Somalia plays a bigger role outside Somalia than al-Shabab does.
"Al-Shabab is by far and away a bigger threat," Mahmood said. "But at the same time, Islamic State Somalia has, one, persisted despite some significant odds against it. And two, it's carved out a role for itself within the wider Islamic State network, particularly when it comes to serving as a financial hub between some of the affiliates and other parts of the Islamic State."
The ICG said the Islamic State restructured its African operations in 2020, placing affiliates from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique under the watch of IS headquarters in Somalia's Puntland region.
IS-Somalia is reported to have between 100 and 400 fighters stationed in the northern part of the country. According to ICG, about half of the fighters are believed to be foreigners. Early this year, Puntland authorities arrested six Islamic State members who were Moroccans; they were later deported.
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, since May of this year, the group has been increasingly active and has waged several attacks against security forces and business centers.
IS-Somalia has also increased its activities in the port city of Bosaso and its surroundings, carrying out an extortion racket that it uses to support its fighters and activities.
Richard Tuta, a Kenyan counterterrorism expert, said Somalia's weak central government has enabled Somalia to be the financial hub of the IS group.
"Somalia ... does not have strong institutions, so it's easy for such institutions to be compromised," Tuta said. "It's easy to undertake both illegal and legal ways of fundraising towards terrorism activity. And because of the country's strategic location, it has a porous border, surrounded by an ocean, which is very hard to keep [under] surveillance."
In May, the U.S. carried out airstrikes in Somalia targeting IS leader Abdulqadir Mumin. Mumin survived.
Mahmood said that if Mumin becomes the overall head of Islamic State, his rise would signal the group's growing influence in Africa.
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"Now whether he's actually the head of the movement is something that's disputed," Mahmood said. "There's a couple other figures that are thrown out there as well. And so that's a bit uncertain. It would be quite a big jump ... for the Islamic State to designate someone on the African continent, but it would also symbolize the growing role of Islamic State within ... the African continent."
Puntland authorities have arrested dozens of IS members in the Bari region. Some have been handed jail terms. Others were executed for their involvement in terror activities and the deaths of civilians or government security forces.
The ICG called for cooperation between the Somali government in Mogadishu and Puntland regional authorities to tackle IS-Somalia and urged outside actors to pay closer attention to the group's activities.
