Somalia: Daesh imposes tax on local businesses
Somalia was ranked one of the lowest countries in terms of corruption, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017 report.
The country suffers from weak public
institutions and instability which directly impact basic governance,
paving the way for armed groups to control territory.
In February
this year, it was revealed that Al-Shabaab was taking huge sums of
money in tax from starving villages and forcing children to join its
ranks.
The group aspires to create an Islamic state governed
by a strict version of Islam. Thousands of Somalis and hundreds of
civilians have been caught up in a decade-long insurgency led by the
group.
Daesh in Somalia is made up of a small section of
Al-Shabaab defectors. The group is led by Sheikh Abdul Qadir Mumin, a
Somali-born British citizen who commands an estimated 300 foot soldiers.
Al-Shabaab
has ordered a special unit to hunt down and target any of its members
that have defected to Daesh. Any form of pro-Daesh sentiment in
Al-Shabaab territory leaves people liable for arrest or death.
Yet
Daesh has executed attacks well away from its stronghold in Puntland,
showing that competition has not successfully stopped the group from
operating near Al-Shabaab. Daesh has set up splinter cells in central
and southern Somalia.
As a result of the unrest caused by these
two groups, in late July, the United Nation’s Security Council voted to
delay the reduction of troops in the peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
Somalia: Daesh imposes tax on local businesses
A militant group associated with Daesh in Syria and Iraq has started levying taxes on businesses in Somalia. "The traders and businesses in Bosaso city continue to work in fear after being asked huge sums of money by Islamic State [Daesh] bra