A PORTRAIT OF AL-SHABAAB RECRUITMENT IN KENYA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 001171

SIPDIS

AF/E:SUSAN DRIANO; INR:MOZELLA BROWN; S/CT:ZACHARY
ROTHSCHILD; S/CRS:NADIA BLACKTON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2019
TAGS: PTER PREL SOCI PGOV KE SO
SUBJECT: A PORTRAIT OF AL-SHABAAB RECRUITMENT IN KENYA

Classified By: Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, reasons 1.4 b,d

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Summary
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1. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) There are a number of factors
that make Kenya a fruitful source for recruiting young men to
join such extremist groups as the Somalia-based al-Shabaab
militia. While we have been focused on Nairobi's Eastleigh
suburb and the North East Province as particular areas of
concern, new information indicates that al-Shabaab
recruitment efforts may have also reached Isiolo, located in
Kenya's geographic center. An Isiolo businessman claims that
60 young Kenyan Somali men have disappeared from Isiolo since
January 2008 to fight in Somalia, and that two he knew
personally recently died while conducting suicide bomb
attacks in Mogadishu. Recruitment in Isiolo, he said, is
directed from a radical mosque in Eastleigh but carried out
by members of four radical mosques around Isiolo. Parents of
these missing youth are grieving in private but are afraid of
speaking out, he said. Even if the Kenyan Government becomes
actively involved in rooting out the recruitment network,
there are no easy answers to this problem. We will continue
to actively explore ways the United States can be of
assistance. End Summary.

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Kenya: A Good Source of Recruits
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2. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) There are a number of factors
that make Kenya a fruitful source for recruiting young men to
join such extremist groups as the Somalia-based al-Shabaab
militia. Kenya's close proximity to Somalia, its sizeable
population of ethnic Somalis, high levels of poverty and
unemployment, a history of poor governance, and a worrisome
youth bulge all contribute to the risk factors. Kenya's
ethnic Somali population in particular suffer from lower
levels of development and education than their fellow
Kenyans. Idle, unemployed youth are at particular risk. The
continuing legacy of the Shifta Wars in the 1960s, certainly
a contributing factor to Kenyan Somalis' lower level of
development, also leaves them feeling like outsiders in their
country of birth. We have focused our attention for some
time on Eastleigh, a well-known Somali-majority suburb of
Nairobi, and the North Eastern Province, which directly
borders Somalia, as possible recruitment locations. We also
have reason to believe that some limited recruitment by
al-Shabaab has occurred in Dadaab refugee camp (septel).


3. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) New information indicates,
however, that al-Shabaab recruitment efforts also have
reached Isiolo. Located in Kenya's geographic center, Isiolo
has a mixed population but was originally settled during the
colonial period by members of the Isaq and Harti clans from
Somaliland who fought for the British in the First World War.
The area has become a center for cattle rustling and is
awash in small arms (septel). As in Muslim majority areas
(Coast Province and North Eastern Province) and other urban
areas throughout the country, traditionally moderate,
pro-establishment Sufi mosques have gradually been overtaken
by more activist, sometimes extremist, Wahhabi-led
institutions whose clerics bring much-needed cash into the
Isiolo area. These Wahhabist clerics may have direct links
with radical mosques in Eastleigh, and may be acting as
recruitment agents for extremist groups in Somalia.


4. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) As the battle in Somalia
becomes more clan-based and Somalis increasingly join
clan-based militias instead of al-Shabaab, some have
postulated that al-Shabaab is increasingly in need of foreign
fighters to keep up its numbers. Frustrated and aimless
Kenyan Somali youth, therefore, are a prime target. In
Isiolo, this recruitment effort is reportedly targeted
specifically at members of the Somali Isaq and Harti clans.

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Residents Concerned in Isiolo
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5. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) On June 3, an Isiolo-based
Kenyan Somali businessman told PolOff that he was extremely
worried about the Islamic extremists' reach into Isiolo and
what it means for his family and his home. Since January
2008, 60 youth have gone missing from Isiolo, he said,
presumably to fight in Somalia. Two suicide bombers who
recently struck in Mogadishu were from Isiolo, he claimed,
and the businessman said that he knew the boys personally.


6. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) The businessman said that the
first suicide bomber -- a friend of XXXXXXXXXXXX -- was a
25-year-old man named Tawakhal Ahmed. Ahmed, he claimed, was
responsible for the February 22 bombing of the African Union
compound in Mogadishu (a blast that killed 11 Burundian
peacekeepers and injured 15 others). Ahmed was originally
recruited in 2006 to fight in Somalia against the Ethiopian
occupying forces after getting involved with a Wahhabi
mosque. According to the businessman, Ahmed grew his beard,
found religion, came into good money, and disappeared into
Somalia to fight the jihad. When he came back, Ahmed
reportedly told the businessman how he had travelled to
Somalia: the journey started at the Garissa Lodge in
Eastleigh, then four to five boys at a time would go on a bus
to Doble and onto Kismayo, where they trained in a camp for
three weeks. After that, recruits received mobile phones,
which is how they subsequently received their orders. When
the Islamic Courts Union fell in late 2006, they reassembled
in Doble and Ahmed returned to Kenya, but not before his
commanders destroyed his (and others') mobile phones, which
had sensitive numbers programmed in them. On Ahmed's return,
the businessman said that he tried to convince Ahmed that
Somalia was not his war and that he should stay home. By
that time, Ahmed agreed and said that he wanted to get
married and start a madrassa (Islamic religious school) in
Isiolo. However, a few months ago, the men from Isiolo's
radical mosques returned with some men from Eastleigh to
re-recruit Ahmed, the businessman said. The men from
Eastleigh gave Ahmed USD 6,000, which Ahmed in turn
distributed among his relatives and friends. After a
three-day prayer ritual, Ahmed left once again for Somalia,
this time to carry out the February 22 suicide bombing.


7. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) The businessman said that the
second local man was named Yusuf Mohammed Warsame, who was 25
or 26 years old and who, like Ahmed, finished secondary
school in Isiolo. The businessman said that he did not know
when Warsame left for Somalia, but claimed that he was
responsible for the May 24 suicide bombing in Mogadishu.
(Note: The May 24 blast killed 10 people, including six
soldiers, but an al-Shabaab spokesman has claimed that the
bomber was a Somali, not a foreign fighter. End Note.)


8. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) The businessman said that four
Isiolo area mosques have been taken over by radical Islamists
who are not originally from Isiolo and are being used as
underground recruiting centers for al-Shabaab. The mosques
are: Masjid Hidaya and the County Council Mosque, both in
Isiolo Town; Masjid Noor in Bula Besa; and Masjid Taqwa in
Bula Oda. The businessman said that these mosques act as
satellites of Eastleigh's Sixth Street Mosque, which directs
recruitment operations. (Note: Isiolo's most prominent
mosque, the Grand Mosque, is run by a moderate imam who has
presided over the mosque for years and has resisted the
overtures of Wahhabist clerics. The businessman opined that
the radicals may be waiting for the imam to pass away before
they make their move for the Grand Mosque. End Note.)


9. (C//REL TO USA, GBR//) The businessman expressed
frustration at what he perceived as a lack of concern or
follow-up by Kenyan officials, with whom he has already
shared these concerns. (Note: He claimed that he had spoken
with Isiolo's District Commissioner, Isiolo's Member of
Parliament, and representatives of the National Security
Intelligence Service to no avail, which is why he approached
the Embassy. End Note.) He said that he has been following
up on the stories of missing children himself, as he is
frequently accosted by family members who tell him that they
have not seen their sons. Parents who lose their children
mourn in private, and are afraid to speak out about what is
happening. One mother, he said, actually travelled to
Kismayo, Somalia to look for her missing 12-year-old son and

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she found him in a training camp. The son reportedly told
her to return to Isiolo and leave him there, or else she
would be killed by the camp organizers.

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Concerns from Other Interlocutors
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10. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) While it would be difficult
for us to confirm that the two men from Isiolo are indeed the
suicide bombers responsible for attacks in Mogadishu, the
story of the recruitment process and the disappearance of
young men is plausible and matches concerns reported by
Kenyan District Child Protection Officers from Nairobi and
Garissa to UNICEF's Kenya office.


11. (C//REL TO USA, KEN, GBR//) Comment: If true, the reports
about a possible al-Shabaab recruitment network that reaches
all the way to Isiolo is disturbing. There are no easy
answers to this problem, even if there were Government of
Kenya involvement. To date, much of U.S. counter-terror
support has focused on helping to secure Kenya's borders: we
are providing assistance to Kenya's army to help them better
react to major security incidents along the porous
Kenya-Somali border and we are initiating a program to help
the Administration Police and Wildlife Service to provide the
first line of security along the border according to their
mandate. In the maritime arena, we provide support to the
Navy and the Maritime Police Unit to better police Kenya's
territorial waters. We also work with the Kenya Civil
Aviation Authority and the Kenya Airports Authority to
enhance aviation safety and security throughout the country.
Recently, however, USAID began a youth employment/youth
inclusion program in Garissa with 1207 funding specifically
aimed at reducing the vulnerability to recruitment of young
Kenyan Somalis. We hope that it can serve as a model for
reaching Kenyan Somalis and youth who are at risk in other
areas of Kenya as well. We will continue to follow up on the
recruitment issue and explore other ways the United States
can be of assistance. End Comment.
RANNEBERGER