Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group has an annual budget of U.S.$24 million to spend on the purchasing of weapons, according to a new report by a Mogadishu-based research group, the Hiraal Institute. The report said the group uses various methods to procure weapons, including direct purchases from local black markets, and from arms traders contracted to buy and deliver weapons from abroad, mainly from Yemen.

Hiraal said the acquisition of firearms, ammunition, explosives and other lethal capacity weapons remains a priority for the militants, with nearly a quarter of its budget going to such transactions.

Al-Shabaab as well as Islamic State militants have been collecting extortion money from businesses in Mogadishu for years. In January 2022, death threats from Islamic State led to the closure of some businesses that refused to pay. However, stores later reopened after the government deployed security forces to the capital city.