Terrorist groups - home based:
al-Shabaab: aim(s): discredit and destablize the Federal Government of Somalia and target any countries' interests that supports Somalia's fight against al-Shabaab; establish Islamic rule in Somalia and Kenya's border regions area(s) of operation: a core al-Qa'ida affiliate that maintains strongholds in rural areas in the south, where it controls a large swathe of the Lower and Middle Juba regions, and has increased its attacks in 2017 in the northeast in Puntland State; responsible for numerous high-profile bombings and shootings throughout Somalia targeting African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) troops, Somali military and police personnel, and civilian-populated areas, especially where Westerners and other foreigners are present, such as shopping malls, hotels, and restaurants; AMISOM is a regional peacekeeping force operated by the African Union with the approval of the UN; fighters have increasingly targeted peacekeeping forces since early 2016; assassins have killed scores of civil society figures, government officials, international aid workers, members of NGOs, and journalists; assessed to have less than 10,000 combatants; The death toll from two truck bombs in Somalia’s capital soared to an estimated 280 on 14 October 2017 as the deadliest attack in the country’s decade-long war with Islamist extremists. Also, more than 300 people were reported wounded.

Terrorist groups - foreign based:
al-Qa'ida (AQ): aim(s): bolster networks and, ultimately, establish a pan-Islamic caliphate under a strict Salafi Muslim interpretation of Sharia area(s) of operation: operates primarily in the south alongside al-Shabaab, an al-Qa'ida affiliate whose aim is to discredit and destablize the Federal Government of Somalia
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL): aim(s): replace the Federal Government of Somalia with an Islamic state and implement ISIL's strict interpretation of Sharia area(s) of operation: increasing its operations, recruitment efforts, and training camps in 2017 in the northeast in Puntland State; uses its growing presence to conduct attacks against African Union Mission for Somalia personnel, a regional peacekeeping force operated by the African Union with the UN's approval; leadership includes former al-Shabaab cleric Abdulkadir MUMIN