Military Periscope :: Al-Ittihaad al-Islami (AIAI)

Al-Ittihaad al-Islami (AIAI)

Group Name:

Al-Ittihaad al-Islami (AIAI); Islamic Union, Islamic Unity

Location/Area of Operation:

Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya.

Stated Purpose:

AIAI seeks to create an Islamic state in Somalia and Ethiopia.

Strength:

Unknown.

External Aid and Links:

Al-Ittihaad al-Islam's connection to outside organizations is in dispute. The group has been suspected of links to Al-Qaida, and to the terrorist network connected to the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. The group may have received financial support from Islamic sources in the Gulf States, and has been backed by internal business operations in Somalia. In 2003, the United Nations reported that AIAI appeared to have limited formal ties to Al-Qaida and was largely locally based and operated.

Activities:

AIAI has engaged in terrorist activities, including bombings and kidnappings. However, the group, at least in its early days, became involved in a wide range of activities -- including social, business and quasi-government operations throughout Somalia.

Overview:

Al-Ittihaad al-Islami (AIAI), an Islamist fundamentalist group, seeks to establish an Islamic state in Somalia and Ethiopia. The group has conducted terrorist and military operations in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. AIAI was formed in the late 1980s by several insurgent groups with the aim of overthrowing Somali dictator Mohammed Siad Barre. After a 22-year dictatorship, Barre was ousted in 1991, creating a power vacuum. AIAI became one of the most prominent insurgent groups to fill the void.

The organization initially operated almost exclusively in Somalia. However, in the mid-1990s, AIAI initiated several attacks against Ethiopian security forces to gain control of the Ogaden border region of Ethiopia, seeing that as a key to securing full control of Somalia. In addition to promoting Islamic extremism within Somalia and Ethiopia, AIAI assisted Al-Qaida in the 1998 East African embassy bombings. AIAI members have likely maintained ties to Al-Qaida. The group suffered significant losses at the hands of the Ethiopian army in the 1990s. Local groups in the northeastern section of Somalia known as Puntland forced AIAI out of that area. As a result, AIAI has since stepped up its sponsorship of Islamic social programs.

Due to Ethiopian counterterror measures, AIAI has been rendered largely inoperative. Many AIAI members have drifted to the Supreme Islamic Courts Council in Somalia, as well as to the hardline Al-Shabaab group. Al-Shabaab emerged in 2006 as a radical, Al-Qaida-affiliated organization with leadership cadres drawn from AIAI. Among those leaders were Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, Abu Taha al-Sudani, Hassan Turki and Aden Hashi Ayro.

Group Chronology:

1960s

After Somalia gained independence in 1960, its initial efforts to establish connections to the West upset an emerging Islamist movement.

1969

Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre staged a bloodless coup, dissolved the national assembly and installed a socialist dictatorship in Somalia. Religious-oriented groups seeking an Islamist state went underground, suffering persecution from the government.

1984

Several religiously oriented groups, including the Muslim Youth Union, merged into a new organization known as Al-Ittihad Al-Islami, or Islamic Union/Islamic Unity. The organization was created as an decentralized network of affiliated groups and individuals, with no identifiable organizational structure.

1990s

During the oil boom of the 1980s and 1990s Somali workers migrated to Saudi Arabia and were influenced by Wahabbi Islamic followers. Similarly, thousands of Somali students were given free college educations in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, courtesy of their governments. The students and workers returned to Somalia as adherents to the strict Islamist philosophy favored by AIAI.

1991

January: Militants ousted Barre and his dictatorial regime. AIAI, with its extensive network of religious, social, business and military operations expanded its influence as a default government in what became an anarchic state.

1992

June: AIAI engaged in a major conflict in the Puntland region of Somalia and was defeated, suffering significant casualties.

1993

Eighteen U.S. Rangers and Delta Force commandos were killed in the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Mogadishu. The U.S. suspected some AIAI involvement but no connections were proven. The U.S. subsequently withdrew 25,000 troops from Somalia, cutting off many ties and possible intelligence links.

1994-1998

AIAI's militant activities declined as a result of suffering internal defeats as well as at the hands of Ethiopians responding to AIAI incursions. AIAI took responsibility for terrorist attacks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. AIAI retained a strong following as a result of its religious, social and political activities.

1999

Hasan Daahir Aweys, a top leader of AIAI, took control over the southern Mogadishu Islamic Court. The Islamic Courts came to the forefront to administer sharia law in the absence of a stable government, but inevitably became involved in the political realm and some adherents became affiliated with various military wings.

2001

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government in November listed AIAI as a "specially designated terrorist group," and ordered a freeze on the group's assets as well as those of the Al-Barakat financial organization affiliated with AIAI.

2004

As part of continuing international attempts to stabilize Somalia, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was created in October 2004. However, the TFG remained in exile in Kenya through the end of 2004. With the emergence of the Islamic Courts Union, the AIAI began to fade as its members dispersed.

2005

The transitional government returned to Somalia in June 2005. Deep divisions developed over issues related to the Transitional Federal Charter, the seat of the TFG and possible involvement in Somalia by neighboring countries. The charter established Islam as the national religion. Several sheikhs announced that the TFG must reflect a commitment to Islamic governance and morals. Some local administrations, including the self-declared "Republic of Somaliland" and the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, made Islam the official religion in their regions.

2006

June: The Islamic Courts Union solidified its control by extending its presence in southern Somalia and the region bordering Ethiopia. As a result, Ethiopia moved troops into the area. Helping to consolidate power, the ICU overcame a coalition of warlords supported by the U.S. and other Western countries. The U.S. State Dept. rejected making contact with ICU leader Aweys because of his past association with AIAI and terrorist groups.

November: The U.S. announced support for a U.N. resolution calling for African peacekeepers in Somalia.

Dec. 24: Ethiopia began a major military offensive against the ICU in Somalia.

Dec. 27: ICU fighters abandoned posts in Mogadishu.

2007

Jan. 1: Ethiopian and Somali government troops forced the ICU out of its last stronghold in Kismayo. Around 3,000 ICU fighters reportedly fled toward the Kenyan border.

Jan. 7: With approval from the Somali government, a U.S. Air Force AC-130 Spectre gunship launched air strikes against suspected Al-Qaida members in southern Somalia. The senior terrorist leaders who were targeted apparently survived the attack.

Jan. 22: The U.S. launched a second AC-130 air raid on terrorist targets in southern Somalia.

March 6: The first of 1,600 Ugandan peacekeepers arrived in Mogadishu to participate in the African Union peacekeeping mission.

September: Gouled Hassan Dourad, an alleged AIAI member, was transferred from CIA custody to the Dept. of Defense prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and later declared an enemy combatant.

2008

January: The first of 800 planned Burundian peacekeeping troops arrived in Somalia.

March 4: The U.S. Navy launched two Tomahawk cruise missiles that struck houses in the Somali village of Dobley near the border with Kenya. Islamists had retaken control of the village the previous week. The target was said to be Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, Al-Qaida's chief in East Africa who is wanted for multiple terrorist attacks in Kenya.

May: Former AIAI leader and Al-Shabaab member Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in a targeted bomb attack by U.S. forces. Ayro was suspected of acting as Al-Qaida's military commander in Somalia.

Nov. 1: A young Muslim man from Minneapolis reportedly traveled to Somalia to fight alongside the insurgent groups. Just two days earlier, another young Muslim who left Minnesota in August 2008 blew himself up in Somalia. That suicide attack killed 24 people. AIAI was suspected of involvement in the recruitment of these and other Minnesota-area Muslim men.

2009

January: Ethiopian forces withdrew from Somalia, removing a major justification for insurgents to continue their armed activities.

February: At a meeting in Brussels, donor countries pledged financial support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the Somali joint security force and the Somali police. A goal was set to recruit 10,000 police and security forces by mid-2010.

March: The TFG, an Islamic-oriented organization, implemented sharia law, seeking to reduce resistance from Islamic insurgent groups.

Last Updated:

December 2009