The Somalia-based al-Qaeda branch, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, claimed killing five Christians in an attack in a village in Kenya’s Lamu County, in addition to other operations, three of which were carried out in the vicinity of Mahaday in Middle Shabelle within the span of three days.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed an attack on Ethiopian Liyuu (Special) Police near the town of Farlibah, in Hiran, in addition to attacks in Lamu County, Kenya and Somalia’s Lower Juba, Puntland, and Lower Shabelle regions.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed seizing four vehicles belonging to the Kenyan electoral commission in what it described as a “special operation” at the Kenya-Somalia border.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a posthumous video of Canadian fighter Mahad Ali Dhore (AKA Farhan) threatening Kenya and calling his counterparts in the country to kill both soldiers and civilians.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a video showing the final message of Kenyan POW Leonard Maingi Kiiyo, and his execution, where his speech and that of the fighter who killed him are meant to influence the upcoming Kenyan general election.

Four days ahead of the Kenyan general election, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a video addressing Kenyan Muslims, calling on them to forgo voting, avoid polling stations entirely, and migrate to Somalia to join the group.

The Somalia-based al-Qaeda (AQ) branch, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, claimed killing and wounding a “number” of Kenyan police in a raid on their station in the town of Lafi, in Kenya’s Mandera County, and then seizing temporary control over the area.

The Somalia-based al-Qaeda branch, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, released a two-part video with its Kenyan religious official Ahmad Iman Ali regarding the general elections and the democratic practice in general.

Ahmad Iman Ali, a Kenyan religious official in the Somalia-based al-Qaeda branch, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, threatened Muslims in the ranks of enemy security forces and proponents of democracy in a video lecture.

Continuing its propaganda blitz ahead of the Kenyan general election, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a video featuring East African fighters speaking a variety of languages, questioning Kenyan voters about their ‘contentment’ with their government.

Seeking to influence the Kenyan general election on August 8, 2017, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a video detailing economic and military losses and security destabilization to Kenyans after the country’s initial engagement with the group in 2011-2012, and mocking the presidency of Donald Trump in the United States, pointing to it as an example of poor voting decisions.

The Somalia-based al-Qaeda branch, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, claimed an attack on a base of Ethiopian Liyuu (Special) Police in the town of Farlibah, located in Hiran on the border between Somalia and Ethiopia, and shelling a joint base in Lower Juba housing American, Ethiopian, and Kenyan forces.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a posthumous video of a second Tanzanian fighter, who promoted immigration and jihad to Muslims in East and Southeast Africa.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed a second mortar strike on a military base in Kenya’s Mandera County in two days.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed that its fighters in Somalia thwarted a U.S. Special Forces operation in Lower Shabelle, and that those in Kenya bombed a military vehicle in Mandera.

In the second episode of its latest video series inciting for jihad, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a posthumous video of a Kenyan fighters calling on Muslims in East Africa to fight collectively against regional states as well as America, Britain, and France.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed killing dozens of Kenyan police and soldiers in a raid in Pandanguo in Kenya’s Lamu County.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed bombing a vehicle belonging to the Somali special forces “Alpha Group” in Mogadishu, and killing 10 Kenyan soldiers in an ambush near the city of Bardhere, among other attacks.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed killing 14 Kenyan soldiers in an ambush in Kenya’s Lamu County.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, claimed killing 10 Kenyan troops in two separate attacks, one of them in Kenya, and striking AMISOM and Somali National Army (SNA) forces in seven incidents in a five-day period.

In the second part of his graduation address to foreign fighters from East Africa, the spokesman for the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement directed a message to “disbelievers” in Kenya, declaring that fighters will not relent in their war unless the Kenyan government withdraws its troops from Somalia, and the Kenyan people embrace Islam.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed killing Kenyan, Somali, and Djiboutian forces in nine attacks in northeastern Kenya and various regions in Somalia, including Mogadishu.

Shahada News Agency, a media unit of al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, promoted its attacks inside Kenya over the course of three weeks.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, reported multiple operations around the country, including three assassinations of Somali elements in Mogadishu, and an attack in Kenya’s Lamu county.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a video on the January 27, 2017, raid on a Kenyan military base in Kulbiyow in which over 67 troops were reportedly killed.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed a third attack in Kenya within a 24-hour period, bombing a police vehicle in Garissa.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed a suicide operation on Somali forces in Mogadishu and killing seven Kenyan police forces in the country’s Mandera County.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed killing at least five Kenyan police officers in a bombing in Garissa, in eastern Kenya.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a video of a Kenyan POW pleading with the Kenyan public and politicians to help their “brethren.”

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed attacks on Somali and Kenyan forces in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region and near the Kenyan-Somali border.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a video showing a Kenyan soldier as a prisoner and threatening the Kenyan government that his fate “lies in your hands.”

Ahmad Iman Ali, a Kenyan official in the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, delivered a speech praising the outcome of the January 2017 Kulbiyow raid, encouraging fighters to be patient, and warning the Kenyan government that Shabaab fighters do not fear death.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed killing more than four Kenyan soldiers and wounding nine others in bombings on them in Kenya’s Lamu County.

The publishers of “Gaidi Mtaani” (Terrorism Street), a pro-Shabaab magazine, released the eighth issue, promoting the May 2013 attack on British soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, London, and the January 2016 raid on Kenyan forces in El-Adde.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed over 20 military operations in 21 days targeting American, Somali, and Kenyan forces, including two large scale attacks and capturing areas within Somalia.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a video showing the execution of Ugandan captive “Masassa M.Y.”, in addition to footage of some of the group’s attacks in Kenya.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's (AQ) branch in Somalia, reported 19 attacks in less than two weeks, including an explosion at the U.N. Headquarters in Mogadishu, capturing neighborhoods in Qoryoley City in Lower Shabelle, and attacks on U.S., Somali, Kenya, and other forces.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed attacks on Somali, Burundian, and Kenyan forces, among other targets throughout Somalia and Kenya.

The Shabaab al-Mujahidin Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed attacks on AMISOM, Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Somali forces, as well as strikes on Saracen International elements in the country, and on a headquarters of the Safaricom Telecommunications company in Kenya.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's (AQ) branch in Somalia, released a video featuring a fighter who claimed to have extorted money from Rwandan Intelligence and C.I.A. agents by supplying them with intentionally vague information and false promises.

‘Amaq News Agency of the Islamic State (IS) reported that the October 27, 2016 stabbing attack targeting a guard of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was carried out by a “soldier of the Islamic State.”

The Shabaab al-Mujahidin Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed killing 15 Christians in the Kenyan town of Mandera, and inflicting 37 casualties among Djiboutian forces in a suicide bombing in Beledweyne, Somalia.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, claimed killing over 50 Somali forces in a suicide bombing and raid in Afgoye, and among over a dozen attacks between October 1 and October 19, 2016, said it executed spies for Britain and Kenya.

The Islamic State (IS) released the second issue of its multi-language Rumiyah magazine, featuring an article by the now-deceased Bangladeshi-Canadian Tamim Chowdhury on the Gulshan attackers, and a piece justifying brutality against the “infidels”.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's branch in Somalia, released a video of a second Kenyan POW its fighters captured in El Adde in January 2016.

The pro-Islamic State (IS) al-Battar Media Foundation published a message from a jihadist pointing to the female attackers involved in the September 11, 2016, attack at a Kenyan police station in Mombasa to shame men into action.

Two days after releasing an "urgent plea" from a captive Ugandan soldier, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement published a similar video message from a Kenyan soldier captured in El Adde in January 2016.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement published photos of corpses and war spoils from an attack in Kenya that its fighters displayed in a public spectacle in Somalia.

The Islamic State (IS) portrayed killing "polytheists" a religious duty upon Muslims in its al-Naba newspaper, and reported on the recent attacks in the American state of Minnesota and Kenyan city of Mombasa.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed attacks on Somali and Ethiopian forces between September 14 and 15, 2016.

'Amaq News Agency of the Islamic State (IS) reported that the three women who attacked the Central Police station in Mombasa, Kenyan, are IS "supporters".

Pro-Islamic State (IS) users on social media distributed a purported pledge to IS by the three women reported to attack a police station in Mombasa, Kenya on September 11, 2016.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed attacks on Somali, Kenyan, and Ethiopian forces, as well as government personnel, between September 5 and 9, 2016.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed attacks on Somali and Kenyan military forces in a two-day span.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed attacks on Somali and Kenyan forces, among other activities, from July 26 through August 1, 2016.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s (AQ) branch in Somalia, claimed five attacks in a four-day period, targeting African Union, Somali, Ethiopian, and Kenyan forces in multiple areas in Somalia.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement in Somalia released the fourth episode of its “From the Frontiers of Glory” series, titled, “From Golis to Lamu.”

The pro-Islamic State (IS) Jabha East Africa claimed that the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement is in "great crisis," and urged Kenyan and Tanzanian members of that group to defect.

A group calling itself "Jabha East Africa," which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) two months ago and has since criticized the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, gave videos of alleged Shabaab defectors.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's branch in Somalia, confirmed the killing of Muhammad Dulyadeyn, the reported mastermind of the 2015 attack on Garissa University.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, announced that it executed four more men whom it accused and claimed had confessed to working with U.S., Kenyan, and Somali intelligence agencies.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, announced that it executed two men whom it accused and claimed had confessed to working with Kenyan and foreign intelligence agencies.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's branch in Somalia, released the tenth episode in its "Mujahideen Moments" series, featuring in it a Kenyan fighter calling Muslims to the battlefield in a chant.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda's branch in Somalia, released a video focused on the January 15, 2016, raid at a KDF camp in El-Adde, showing scenes from the clashes, and footage of some of those Kenyan soldiers captured alive.

Ahmad Iman Ali, a Kenyan official in the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, delivered a lecture threatening attacks in Kenya, while claiming to wear the clothing of a KDF soldier killed in the January 15, 2016, attack on an AMISOM base in Somalia's Gedo region.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, claimed a total of 60 attacks in that country and Kenya in a report on its military operations, civilian projects, and other activities for the Hijri month of Rabie al-Awwal 1437 (December 12, 2015 – January 10, 2016).

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, released a video on attacking Kenyan police and preaching to Muslims in Kenya, and in its concluding segments, incited for attacks on Israel.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released an audio message of two Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) soldiers taken hostage after the group’s storming of an AMISOM base in Somalia’s Gedo region on January 15, 2016.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement issued a statement on the raid on a Kenyan base in Somalia’s Gedo region, announcing that over 100 soldiers were killed and some were captured alive.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, claimed killing 63 Kenyan soldiers in a suicide bombing and raid by its Saleh al-Nabhani Battalion on a military base in Gedo.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed killing a “large number” of Kenyan forces in Kenya’s Lamu County, where the group has recently increased the number of its attacks, and executed two men in a public square in Somalia on charges of working for the Somali government.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed an ambush on Kenyan security forces near the Kenyan city of Mpeketoni in Lamu County, and remarked that this attack and four others in the past ten days belie Kenyan government claims of eliminating their presence in the country.

A Shabaab supporter on Twitter incited Somalis in Kenya to join the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement in wake of mass graves found along the Somali-Kenyan border.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed killing seven Kenyan soldiers in an attack on their base in the area of Kiunga in Kenya’s Lamu County.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed credit for attacks in northeastern Kenya, including the bombing of a military convoy, and temporarily seizing control over a town in Garissa.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed 55 attacks on Djiboutian, Ethiopian, Kenyan, Somali, and unidentified AMISOM forces between September 15 and October 12, 2015, and capturing a Somali soldier in what it called a “special operation”.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed 83 attacks on Djiboutian, Ethiopian, Kenyan, Somali, and Ugandan forces between August 14 and September 16, 2015, including a suicide bombing and raid at an AMISOM base in Janale, and a suicide bombing at a training center in Kismayo.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement reportedly took over a town in Kenya’s Lamu East and lectured people and distributed propaganda before withdrawing, and also seized control over two towns in central Somalia.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a video of a Swahili lecture by a group official, Ahmad Iman Ali, calling on Muslims to immigrate to Somalia for jihad, and claiming that it has an army in Kenya.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a video showing the repentance of men it identified as Kenyan forces in Pandanguo, a settlement in Kenya’s Coast Province, and featuring footage of group official Ahmad Iman Ali warning Muslims against assisting the enemy.

Al-Muhajiroun - Emigrants of East Africa, a pro-al-Qaeda group, released the second issue of its English/Swahili magazine, “Amka,” in which it promoted what it called a “homecoming” of Shabaab fighters to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Islamic State (IS) fighters and supporters have celebrated reports that leaders from the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement were considering pledging allegiance to IS.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed killing nearly twenty Christian quarry workers in the Mandera County of Kenya.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement attacked a base near the Somali National Intelligence and Security in Mogadishu with a suicide bombing and raid, and ambushed Kenyan forces in Lamu.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a video showing three attacks in Kenya, targeting a police station in Bothai, a church in Hindi, and a wildlife service camp in Lamu County.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed killing more than 25 Kenyan policemen in two attacks near the Kenyan town of Garissa, and publicly executed four spies, two of whom worked for Kenyan intelligence and the other two for Somali intelligence. Shahada News Agency, a Somalia-focused jihadi media group, reported on the claim and the execution in two messages posted on Twitter on May 26, 2015.

Shahada News Agency, a Somalia-focused jihadi media group, reported that the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement ambushed Kenyan troops in Liboi near the Kenya-Somalia border, and assassinated the deputy mayor of Wadajir district of Mogadishu.

“Al-Muhajiroun - Emigrants of East Africa,” a pro-Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement group, issued a statement threatening the United Nations as well as the governments of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

A group calling itself “Al-Muhajiroun - Emigrants of East Africa” published biographies of two fighters who were killed in Majengo, Kenya, in 2013.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, released a video on the July 2014 attack on the Gamba police station in Kenya.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement issued a statement on the deadly attack at Garissa University College in Kenya in which 147 people were killed, calling it “retaliation” on behalf of Muslims, and warning the Kenyan government and public to prepare for more bloodshed.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, released a video on the June 2014 attacks in the Kenyan town of Mpeketoni and village of Poromoko, and fighters entering another village, Pandanguo, after “all the Kuffar [disbelievers] fled into the bushes”.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement, al-Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, released a documentary-style video on the September 2013 raid at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, and threatened that “Westgate was just the beginning, and with all hopes of peace forever dashed, Kenya's darkest hour is yet to come”.

An alleged British fighter and recruiter with the Islamic State (IS) answered questions on Ask.fm regarding different the nationalities of fighters with IS.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed credit for the killing of 28 non-Muslims on a bus in Mandera near the Kenya-Somalia border, declaring the strike to be a response to attacks by Kenyan forces on Muslims in Mombasa.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement promoted the September 2013 raid on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi and threatened additional attacks in Kenya, claiming that there are "hundreds of men who are wishing for such an operation."

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement released a video on its August 7, 2013, raid on the city of Afmadow in Somalia's Juba region, and presented brief biographies of three fighters who were killed during the operation.

Shahada News Agency, a Somalia-focused jihadi media group, reported on an operation by the Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement inside the presidential palace in Mogadishu, and publicized the conversion to Islam of two Kenyan captives.

The Shabaab al-Mujahideen Movement claimed ambushing a convoy carrying Kenyan military officers between Garissa and Liboi in Kenya, and in Somalia, claimed attacks on Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Somali forces and AMISOM "Crusaders," including a strike in Puntland.

Similarities in Tactics in Major Attacks on Western Targets in 2013: A Look at Tigantourine and Westgate

By Rita Katz and Margaret Foster

Two of the most high-profile jihadi attacks during 2013 displayed a striking similarity in targets and tactics, raising the possibility that the attacks are on the vanguard of an emerging trend in jihadi operations.