SUMMARY
Hizbul Islam (Islamic party) emerged as a new Islamic insurgent group made up of familiar faces, in February 2009.
The new opposition alliance brought together four known Islamist groups in Somalia - Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia/Union of Islamic Courts (ARS/UIC)-Asmara faction, Harakat Ras Kamboni, Jabhatul Islamiya (also known as SIF or JABISO) and Anole. The formation of Hizbul Islam brought together long-term allies from the time when insurgent group Al Ittihad Al-Islami (AIAI) was active in Somalia. Prior to joining Hizbul Islam, Harakat Ras Kamboni and Anole had made up factions within Al-Shabaab.
Hizbul Islam used both a religious and nationalist rhetoric but as most armed groups in Somalia it was essentially structured along clan lines. The ARS/UIC-Asmara and Jabhatul Islamiya were drawn mainly from smaller Hawiye sub-clans. Anole had support from the residual Harti communities in the Juba Valley. Harakat Ras Kamboni came from the Mohamed Subeer sub-clan of the Ogaden,
Hizbul Islam was torn between its different factions from the outset of the movement. Leadning both to infighting within the groups but also defections to the government and Al-Shabaab. In December 2010 Hizbul Islam's leader, Aweys, announced that the group ceased to exist and that its struggle was to be continued under the command of al-Shabaab.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Sheikh Hassan Abdullahi Hirsi (“Hassan Turki”) became the main leaders of Hizbul Islam. Aweys had formerly led the Eritrean-based wing of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia/Union of Islamic Courts (ARS/UIC). ARS had split when one ARS faction, ARS-Djibouti, opted for peace negotiations with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2008. Aweys stayed in Asmara, Eritrea, but at least to a degree continued to exert his influence on the violence on the ground in Somalia.
When the head of ARS-D, and former Aweys ally, Sheikh Sharif was elected president in early 2009, it is thought that covert efforts were made to persuade Aweys to join the fold. Instead, when Aweys returned to Somalia in late April 2009 as the leader of Hizbul Islam, he directed a large-scale offensive against the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu.
Hizbul Islam has been involved in the intrastate and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence.
