Militant Islamism and local clan dynamics in Somalia: the expansion of the Islamic Courts Union in Lower Jubba province

Abstract

Over the course of only a few months in 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) defeated the clan-based faction leaders in Mogadishu and conquered most parts of South-Central Somalia, an achievement unprecedented since the fall of the Somali state in 1991. The ICU’s rapid expansion met with little resistance and the local populations generally received their forces with enthusiasm. Drawing on unique empirical material, the paper discusses why and how the ICU alliance expanded in Somalia’s southernmost province Lower Jubba. While ICU’s initial success in Mogadishu was due to a combination of several factors, discussed in existing literature, this paper contents that its wider expansion in Lower Jubba was largely caused by ICU’s ability to utilize local dynamics, structured along clan lines. While the ICU was initially welcomed by the local population in Lower Jubba, its Islamist inspired politics was soon heavily challenged throughout the province.