Somalia | Dispute between ISIS and Al-Shabaab Group triggers concerns among citizens

Mogadishu – Somalia 17/12/2018

A dispute between ISIS and Al-Shabaab Group over tax collecting triggered an undesirable impact on the commercial movement and citizens’ lives in Somalia, where the two sides started a battle by carrying out assassinations against each other, after having differences over the taxes collected by the two sides from traders in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab group collected taxes in the areas they control throughout the country, in addition to the government-controlled cities, including the capital. However, ISIS tried to tamper with that system by leading similar moves and collecting taxes in Mogadishu, which infuriated members of Al-Shabaab group, causing a public dispute that later turned into a wave of assassinations against some merchants who declined to pay taxes to ISIS.