The Islamist group al Shabaab is attempting to make jihad trendy. But is it having any success?
“I obsesses not depress for martyrdom success” raps hip-hop enthusiast and keen Islamist, Omar Hammami, in his recent comeback song. This track wasn’t intended to top any charts, but instead to prove that the elusive Omar was still alive. That the Alabama-born twentysomething, who is believed to be a senior figure in the Islamist group al Shabaab, chose to do this through the medium of rap is typical of the Somali terrorist group that has brought the notion of socially networked revolution to a whole new level.
Jihad is a young man’s game. Old codgers like Osama (54) or Ayman al-Zawahiri (59) may be able to provide some ideological and operational support for cells, but for the most part it is young men who are on the frontlines. As a result,
Musa khan Jalalzai
Al Shabab is a terrorist group fighting in Somalia, but recruited its thousands members in the camps of Afghan Mujahedeen and Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its suicide squads are strong and some members of that squad are living in the UK. They are going to Somalia, Sudan and other states for Jihad.