Al-Shabaab’s Video Projects Power, Continuity
On March 30th 2015, al-Shabaab’s main media branch, al-Kataib released a video titled “Remembrance 2” showing several al-Shabaab fighters executing six Somali men. The video opens with al- Shabaab militants standing on a bluff overlooking the ocean and shooting into the water with Ak-47s. The shot pans to the ocean where men can be seen attempting to swim away. With a swift transition, the video shows the Somali men walking in a straight line, holding on to one another, looking blank-faced into the camera.
The video isn’t simply of the recent attack however, but also contains footage alleged to be from an al-Shabaab killing of the same style in 2009. For the rest of the video, clips from the 2009 shooting are interwoven with the March 2015 video. During much of the video, the clips are played side-by-side. It almost appears as if the recent attack was a recreation of the 2009 video. Both videos feature the victims lined up walking out, then sitting in a line, and al-Shabaab fighters standing on a bluff while shooting. The camera angles featured are the same.
The roughly 6-minute video, “Remembrance 2” is the second in a two part series. The first video is a 16-minute recruitment video filmed in similar comparison style, that documents the life of al-Shabaab militants.
The content of the video has created concern due to its similarity to the Islamic State’s video of the 21 Coptic Christians being beheaded. While the Islamic State’s video is far superior in terms of the cinematic capabilities, the videos do share many qualities. Both the ISIS video and the al-Shabaab video feature young men marching towards the sea and contains shots done from different angles with transitions between scenes.
The content as well is similar. Multiple executions are shown in al-Shabaab’s video. One of which is of men, lined up, being shot in the back of the head on a stretch of rock leading into the sea. This mimics the execution done by the Islamic State. The Islamic State has gained mass media attention for their graphic scenes showing the deceased victims. The al-Shabaab video has gone just as far, featuring images of a man rotting on the beach, and several victims floating in the water after being shot.
Jasmine Opperman, the African director at the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium thinks that the video is serving as a message to ISIS, to show that the terrorist organizations are equal. Yet, when looking at the video, nothing appears to directly indicate that the video is intended in response to Islamic State.
Recently, al-Shabaab has faced substantial pushback in Somalia. They have been losing territory for the past couple of years, most recently when the Somali National Army regained control of Barawe in October of 2015.
Despite the losses, al- Shabaab is still able to launch successful attacks, such as the one on the hotel in Mogadishu, which resulted in at least 17 casualties. The video posted by al-Shabaab executing the Somali men demonstrates their improved capabilities when compared to the 2009 video that is included. The side-by-side comparison of the two videos sends the message that they are only improving, not weakening. It is a symbol of their continuous power from 2009, to present. The video contains striking similarities to the Islamic State’s videos, specifically that of the 21 Coptic Christians being beheaded, but the central message is proving al-Shabaab’s increasing abilities rather than competition with the Islamic State.
