Eritrea – Eritrean Islamic Jihad

(TRO)

Justification:
The Eritrean Islamic Jihad (EIJ) and other Islamic oriented factions such as offshoots of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) are greater threats now (to Eritrea) than before. Before the 1998 war (against Ethiopia) these groups carried out minimal and sporadic attacks within Eritrea, and their domestic support base was quite low. Nevertheless, the aforementioned groups are growing in number and strength. The EIJ’s success stems from the Eritrean government inability to fight such groups with the same intensity and vigor as before because addressing the growing danger of conflict with Ethiopia. Furthermore, since relations have increasingly normalized between Eritrea and Sudan, the EIJ and other factions have been able to form in Ethiopia with the support of the Ethiopian regime. The EIJ and other factions still do not represent Eritrea’s primary threat, but their growth is substantial and representative of the overall growth anti-Government of Eritrea (GOE) factions exhibit currently. Such groups capitalize off of the ‘social, political and economic repercussions’ of the border conflict with Ethiopia and capitalize off of people’s frustrations.

Stakeholder size: Estimates consider the group to be small in size (in proportion to Eritrean Defense Forces).

Area of influence
a.) Geographic Area – The EIJ conducts attacks in various parts of the country, but usually in the interior countryside. There is no specific area, but the organization has been known to target government agents, however, unsuccessfully for the most part.
b.) Population subsets – EIJ supporters are chiefly those who believe and follow a militant form of Islam (i.e. Wahabism). Islam is practiced by approximately 55% of the Eritrean population, the majority of which are Sunni.

Description of Organization (Pending more info)
The group’s main concern is to overthrow the current Eritrean regime and abolish GOE’s secular stance. The EIJ’s mission is to turn Eritrea into an Islamic state ruled by Sharia Law. EIJ practices include assassinations, assassination attempts and bombings.

Financial Resources:
The EIJ’s main financial resources and support stem from Ethiopia since Ethiopia provides shelter for the organization. The amount of monetary and military assistance Ethiopia provides is unknown. Other terrorist organizations largely based throughout the Middle East, such as Al Qaeda, are also believed to provide training and monetary support to the fledgling militant group.