On July 19, 2018, the US Department of State amended the designation of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida affiliate in Somalia, to include al-Hijra, Pumwani Islamist Muslim Youth Center, Pumwani Muslim Youth, and Muslim Youth Center as aliases.

These aliases have been added to al-Shabaab’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. 

According to the State Department’s press release, “al-Hijra, formed in 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya serves as a wing of al-Shabaab.” The State Department added that al-Hijra “has openly engaged in al-Shabaab recruiting in Kenya and facilitated travel of al-Shabaab members to Somalia for terrorism purposes.” 

In March 2018, the State Department sanctioned Ahmad Iman Ali, a “prominent al-Shabaab commander who has served as the group’s leader in Kenya since 2012,” and Abifatah Abubakar Abdi, who was placed on the Kenyan government’s wanted list of terrorists in 2015.