Report: Al-Shabaab spent $24m on weapons last year

Somalia’s militant Islamist group al-Shabaab spent $24 million in 2021 on purchasing weapons. That is according to a report by a Mogadishu-based research group, the Hiraal Institute.

The report further alleges that al-Shabaab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda, has an annual revenue collection of about $180 million.

Entitled al-Shabaab’s Arsenal – From Texas to Terror, the report said the group uses different methods to procure weapons, including direct purchases from local black markets, and from arms traders contracted to buy and deliver weapons from abroad, mainly Yemen.

The Hiraal institute also says that the insurgents control large parts of Somalia and maintain a degree of influence on the populace through a mix of persuasion, administration and coercion.

The authors recommend several measures aimed at disrupting al-Shabaab’s weapons acquisition and movement, including countering arms imports from the Gulf of Aden.