1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineMiddle East crisisCOP29 climate talks

Al-Shabab

Al-Shabab is a jihadi militant organization based in Somalia. The group was founded between 2004 and 2006; it claims to fight for an Islamic theocracy in the Horn of Africa. Its name al-Shabab means "the Youth."

Skip next section All Content on this topic

All Content on this topic

Somalia Al-Shabab

Life in Mogadishu

ConflictsMay 8, 201801:24 min
Car bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia

Car bomb detonates near Somali presidential palace

A car bomb in Mogadishu has left at least four people dead and several others injured, according to reports.
ConflictsMarch 25, 2018
Rex Tillerson stands before a US flag

Rex Tillerson: Ethiopia needs 'greater freedom'

During a visit to Ethiopia, Rex Tillerson said the answer to violence in the East African country was greater freedom.
PoliticsMarch 8, 2018
Somalia Al-Shabaab fighters

Escape from al-Shabab

The story of a Kenyan woman who escaped the Somali militant group al-Shabab after five years of sexual abuse.
SocietyMarch 3, 2018
Abschiebung

Escaping al-Shabab

Do desperate times call for desperate measures? We meet a woman who saw no way out and joined a terror organization.
SocietyFebruary 27, 201807:58 min
Somalia Mogadishu - people on rubble in the aftermath

Death toll mounts after Mogadishu palace attack

Dozens of people die in twin car bomb blasts that appear to have been a foiled attack on the presidential palace.
ConflictsFebruary 24, 2018
Somalia Mogadischu Autobomben Anschlag

Deadly blasts rock Somalia after months of calm

At least 18 people have been killed in Mogadishu after two bombers struck the city's government quarter.
ConflictsFebruary 23, 2018
A scene from the film Watu Wote, showing al-Shabab militants pointing guns at a group of passengers from a bus, who are sitting in the dirt.

Kenyan film on terrorist attack gets Oscar nomination

A story of love and solidarity, the film tells the story of Muslims shielding Christians from certain death.
CultureJanuary 25, 2018
somalia milizen al-shabaab, al-shabab mogadischu

AfricaLink on Air - 15 January 2018

Al-Shabaab forcing children to join group+++Sahel Region leaders in France for joint anti-terror military force talks
PoliticsJanuary 15, 201829:59 min
Al-Shabaab fighter stand in a row with covered faces

Rights group: Al Shabab forcibly recruits children

“We are taking them for Jihad,” al Shabab militants reportedly told teachers at a school in Somalia.
PoliticsJanuary 15, 2018
A US drone

US strikes 'Islamic State' fighters in Somalia

"Several terrorists" were killed in two airstrikes by the United States on IS militants in Somalia.
TerrorismNovember 3, 2017
A woman behind a veil

The story of a Somali rape survivor

Fardowso fled to Mogadishu. She thought she'd reached a safe haven. Instead, she's raped at the refugee camp.
SocietyOctober 31, 2017
Several people died in the Mogadishu explosions

Major blasts hit Somali capital Mogadishu

A 10-hour siege by al-Shabab militants at a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu has ended.
TerrorismOctober 28, 2017
Al-Shabaab Kämpfer in Mogadishu

Two Germans sentenced for joining Islamist terrorists

German courts have sentenced a number of German nationals for joining foreign extremist groups in recent years.
TerrorismOctober 27, 2017
Thosuands attend a prayer service in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Somalia bombing death toll rises to 358

Thousands returned to the site of the country's worst terror attack six days later.
ConflictsOctober 20, 2017
A young child

World in Progress: Hunger!

Over 800 million people worldwide are going hungry every day. Hunger is fueled by war and conflict, among other things.
Human RightsOctober 18, 201729:59 min
Somalia Mogadischu | unterernährtes Kleinkind

World in Progress: Dire need of food in Somalia

As militias are vying for power in war-torn Somalia, the people are going hungry. Sandra Petersmann reports.
SocietyOctober 18, 201709:12 min

Somalia bombing is sign of government's powerlessness

Ludger Schadomsky
Somalia is in such a mess that the newly elected government has no chance of stopping al-Shabab.
PoliticsOctober 16, 2017
A malnourished child in Mogadishu

'Strategic patience'

Somalia is still on the verge of famine, says Peter de Clercq, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.
PoliticsOctober 16, 2017
A woman in a refugee camp in Mogadishu (photo: DW/S. Petersmann)

Rebuilding Somalia

Somalians have to find their own solutions, says Michael Keating, the UN's Special Representative for Somalia.
PoliticsOctober 16, 2017
Somalia Mehr als 260 Tote nach Doppel-Anschlag in Mogadischu

Mogadishu — city of extremes

Mogadishu is pockmarked by war. But Somalia's capital is also a place of new beginnings.
PoliticsOctober 16, 201717 images
external

Scores killed in Mogadishu bomb blast

TerrorismOctober 15, 201700:46 min
Somalia Al-Shabaab Kämpfer

Former al-Shabab militants share their story

Abu and Gardere joined Islamic extremist group al-Shabab before turning their backs on it a few years later. But why?
PoliticsOctober 15, 2017
Destroyed house in Mogadishu (photo: DW/S. Petersmann)

New beginning for Somalia?

Under the Trump administration, the US has significantly amped up military engagement in Somalia.
PoliticsSeptember 27, 2017
Oscars - Statue

Young German filmmakers win Student Oscars

The Student Academy Awards has praised two German directors for movies about social issues in Africa.
CultureSeptember 14, 2017
Al-Shabaab in Somalia

Why do young Africans turn to Jihad?

Many young Africans hope that extremist groups will help them escape poverty, hopelessness and frustration.
TerrorismSeptember 12, 2017
A Somali woman, her face framed by a red hijab, cries for a killed relative.

Al-Shabab militants attack military base

At least 10 Somali soldiers were killed in the attack that began when militants detonated a large truck bomb.
ConflictsSeptember 3, 2017
Kenia Attentat in Garissa

US, Somalia probing 'civilian deaths' in raid

US Africa Command says it's assessing reports that 10 civilians were killed in an anti-Islamist operation in Somalia.
ConflictsAugust 26, 2017
Somalia Restaurant Explosion

Hostages seized in Mogadishu eatery raid

At least 18 people have died after gunmen posing as soldiers stormed a restaurant popular with the elite in Somalia.
ConflictsJune 15, 2017
Somalia Al-Shabaab Kämpfer

US strikes Al-Shabab command post in Somalia

The Pentagon estimates that eight militants were killed in the attack, which both the US and Somalia deemed a success.
ConflictsJune 11, 2017
Somalia Al-Shabaab fighters

Is Islamic extremism on the rise in Africa?

Extremists are increasingly shaping the image of Islam in Africa. But does this represent a real conservative trend?
ReligionMay 28, 2017
General Thomas D. Waldhauser

AFRICOM: 'Terrorist groups' remain a challenge across Africa

The United States is maintaining a consistent presence across Africa in order to address security concerns.
PoliticsMay 18, 2017
Somalia Al-Shabaab fighters

Tackling the security crisis in Somalia

The international community is working together to address Somalia's poor state of affairs
PoliticsMay 17, 2017
A Somalian woman holds her crying child as they wait for medical treatment

Somalia on the brink of humanitarian crisis

International donors have been meeting to avert a humanitarian crisis in Somalia. Critics say it won't be enough.
PoliticsMay 11, 2017
Somalia Al-Shabaab Kämpfer

US soldier killed in Somalia

A US soldier has been killed in a special operations mission with Somali forces against al-Shabab.
PoliticsMay 6, 2017
Großbritannien US-Verteidigungsminister Jim Mattis in London

US defense chief visits strategic base in Djibouti

Mattis' trip follows a decision by Washington to grant the US military more authority to strike al-Shabab militants.
ConflictsApril 23, 2017
Somalia kenianische Soldaten der Afrikanischen Union

Kenyan troops 'kill 52 al-Shabab fighters'

Officials say Kenyan troops taking part in an AU mission in Somalia attacked an al-Shabab camp, killing 52 militants.
ConflictsApril 21, 2017
Car bomb in Mogadishu, Somalia

Suicide car bomber kills several in Somalia

The attack comes just days since Somalia's presdient announced a military offensive against extremist group al-Shabab.
PoliticsApril 9, 2017
Somalia Hunger und Cholera fordern mindestens 110 Todesopfer

Starvation kills 110 as famine looms in Somalia

The UN says 5 million people are at risk, and thousands have already begun streaming into the capital in search of food.
CatastropheMarch 4, 2017
Syrien Krieg - Rebellen mit IS-Flagge in Aleppo

Seven terror organizations in the news

Here are seven headline-making terror organizations that you need to know about.
PoliticsFebruary 28, 2017
Hungersnot in Nigeria

Somali near on famine

Somalia's new President Mohamed has declared a drought emergency as agencies try to feed half the population.
CatastropheFebruary 28, 2017
Somalia Selbstmordanschlag in Mogadischu

Deadly Mogadishu blast

A bomb blast at a busy market in the west of the Somalian capital has killed more than a dozen people.
ConflictsFebruary 19, 2017
Somalia Wahlen - Plakate in Mogadischu

Somali lawmakers poised to elect new president

Presidential elecrions in Somalia are set to go ahead after months of delays and threats of disruption by insurgents
PoliticsFebruary 8, 2017
Somalia Sicherheit Soldaten Symbolbild

Al Shabab attack in Somalia kills several

Al Shabab militants have attacked a hotel in the capital of the semi-autonomous Puntland region killing several people.
TerrorismFebruary 8, 2017
Somalia Al-Shabaab Kämpfer

Al-Shabab attacks Kenya military base

Al-Shabab has announced that it attacked Kenyan troops at a military base in Somalia.
CatastropheJanuary 28, 2017
Somalia Explosion vor einem Hotel in Mogadishu

Several dead in Al-Shabab attack at Mogadishu hotel

Gunmen have fought their way into a hotel in Mogadishu killing several after a powerful explosion outside the building.
ConflictsJanuary 25, 2017
Somalia Mogadischu al-Shabaab Kämpfer

Al-Shabab kill two for homosexuality

The Somalia-based al-Shabab militant group has said it killed one man and a teenager for engaging in homosexuality.
TerrorismJanuary 11, 2017
African Union Mission in Somalia

Is support for African military mission in Somalia waning?

2016 saw the EU cutting back funding to AMISOM. Ethiopia has pulled back some auxiliary 4,000 troops.
PoliticsDecember 30, 2016
Somalia Mogadischu' Autobombenanschlag

Car bomb explodes in Mogadishu

A car bomb has exploded outside the port of the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing several people and injuring many more.
TerrorismDecember 11, 2016
Somalia Autobombenanschlag in Mogadischu

Deadly car bomb hits Somalia marketplace

A car bomb has exploded inside a bustling marketplace in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.
TerrorismNovember 26, 2016