The following is an incomplete list of events related to al-Shabaab militants.

2003 Al-Shabaab founded at an AIAI meeting held in Las Anod, Somaliland/Somalia. Early members included Aden Hashi Farah Ayro of the Ayr clan and Ahmed Abdi Godane of the Isaaq clan.

2006

June 10: The Guardian reports "An unnamed network run by one of Aweys's protégés, Aden Hashi Farah "Ayro" is linked to the murder of four western aid workers and over a dozen Somalis who allegedly cooperated with counter-terror organisations." June 15: Al-Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", was said to have taken arms sent from Eritrea July 26: Mukhtar Robow or "Abu-Mansur" was reported accepting another load of arms from Eritrea July: 720 Somali volunteers were selected by Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" to travel to Lebanon to fight against the Israelis. Of those, only 80 returned to Mogadishu. In September, another 20 returned, along with five members of Hizbollah. (see page 24). The bankruptcy of a remittance company, Dalsan International, whose staff included the brother of Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow", involved the suspicious disappearance of $10 million. It was alleged, "an ICU military leader managed to divert a large amount of money to help financially support the organization in their fight for the control of Mogadishu during the June 2006 confrontation with the former counter terrorism alliance" (Also see ARPCT, Second Battle of Mogadishu)

2007 As of January 6, 2007, after the Fall of Mogadishu and Kismayo to the TFG, the leaders of the Shabaab were in hiding still at large. A member of the disbanded group said they once numbered about 1,000 (lower than other claims by former members), but they do not have any weapons any more. Still, there was support for the call of leaders to maintain jihad against the Ethiopians and secular government. January 19: Pro-Islamic Courts Union website featured a video describing the reformation of the ICU into the "Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations" (PRM), alternatively translated and referred to in press reports as the "Somali People's Insurgent Movement" (SPIM) or "Somali People's Resistance Movement" (SPRM). On January 24, Sheikh Abdikadir was announced to be its commander of the Banadir region. January 31: Al-Shabaab made a video warning African Union peacekeepers to avoid coming to Somalia, claiming "Somalia is not a place where you will earn a salary—it is a place where you will die." February 9: 800 Somali demonstrators in north Mogadishu, where Islamist support was strongest, burned U.S., Ethiopian, and Ugandan flags in protest of the proposed African Union (AU) led and United Nations endorsed peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM. "Abdirisaq", a masked representative of the resistance group, the PRM, said Ethiopian troops would be attacked in their hotels.

2008

February 28: United States Department of State designates al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). August: Battle of Kismayo – After several days of fighting in which scores of deaths were reported, al-Shabaab fighters defeated the militia of Barre Adan Shire Hiiraale and took control of the port city. Kismayo had been held by the TFG since January 2007. The fighting in Kismayo is reported to have displaced an estimated 35,000 people. After the withdrawal of Hiiraale's fighters, al-Shabaab commence a peaceful disarmament process targeting local armed groups that had been contributing to insecurity in Kismayo. The group has been blamed or claimed responsibility for, among other attacks, the February 2008 Bosaso bombings and the 2008 Hargeisa–Bosaso bombings. By late 2008, it was estimated that the group controlled the whole of southern Somalia, except for some pockets of Mogadishu. This was more territory than that controlled by the Islamic Courts Union at the height of their power. October 27: Stoning of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow – After being sentenced to public execution by al-Shabaab courts, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was stoned to death by around 50 militants in the southern port town of Kismayo. Initial reports of the killing stated that she was a 23-year-old woman found guilty of adultery. However, Duhulow's father asserted that she was only 13, under the age of marriage eligibility, and that she was arrested and executed after trying to report that she had been raped. The stoning took place in a public stadium with roughly 1,000 bystanders in it, several of whom attempted to intervene but were in the process shot by the militants. December: Anwar al-Awlaki sends a communique to al-Shabaab, congratulating them. He thanks them for "giving us a living example of how we as Muslims should proceed to change our situation. The ballot has failed us, but the bullet has not". In conclusion, he writes: "if my circumstances would have allowed, I would not have hesitated in joining you and being a soldier in your ranks".

2009

January: UN-sponsored peace talks concluded in Djibouti with Ethiopians agreeing to withdraw from Somalia and Islamist leader Sharif Ahmed "agreed to stop fighting." January 31: Shiekh Sharif Ahmed is elected present of the Transitional Federal Government. Opposing any negotiated settlement with Ethiopia, al-Shabaab declares war on him. February 22: 2009 African Union base bombings in Mogadishu: Al-Shabaab carried out a suicide car bomb attack against an African Union military base in Mogadishu, killing at least six Burundian peacekeepers. May: Battle of Mogadishu – Al-Shabaab, along with allied group Hizbul Islam, launched a major offensive to take over Mogadishu, leaving hundreds killed and injured and tens of thousands displaced. The group made large gains, taking over most of the capital. June 18: 2009 Beledweyne bombing – Al-Shabaab claimed the bombing of the Hotel Medina in Beledweyne, which killed 35 people including Somali security minister Omar Hashi Aden. June 18: U.S. Diplomatic Security Daily cable, 09STATE63860, includes the death of Omar Hashi Aden and al Shabaab's shift of tactics to include suicide bombings. July 8: A video message featuring an American commander in al-Shabaab, Abu Mansur al-Amriki, is released in which he responds and denounces U.S. President Barack Obama's June 2009 Cairo speech to Arabs and Muslims. July 26: Al-Shabaab members ban samosas (sambusas) in regions they control, deeming the snack too Christian on account of its triangular, allegedly Holy Trinity-like shape. August 4: Holsworthy Barracks terror plot – Four men allegedly connected with al-Shabaab in Melbourne, Australia were charged over a plan to storm the Holsworthy Barracks with automatic weapons; and shoot army personnel or others until they were killed or captured. Al-Shabaab has denied any connection with the men. It has subsequently been listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia. August 11: Reuters reports residents in Marka complain "al Shabaab has been rounding up anyone seen with a silver or gold tooth and taking them to a masked man who then rips them out using basic tools." Residents told Reuters that al-Shabaab declared that since gold and silver teeth "are used for fashion and beauty," they are against Islam. September 14: Members of the group were killed in a raid targeting Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was also killed. September 17: 2009 African Union base bombings in Mogadishu – The group claims a second bombing of an AU base, which killed 17 peacekeepers. September 20: Al-Shabaab released a 48-minute video, "Labayka Ya Usama," ("Here I am at Your Service, Usama") on transnational jihadi websites. The video is framed around Osama bin Laden's March 2009 audio message "Fight On, O' Champions of Somalia," and features footage of African Union "atrocities" in Somalia and al-Shabaab units undergoing military training. Bin Laden and the Amir (leader) of al-Shabaab, Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Abu al-Zubayr, criticize Somalia's interim president, Sharif Ahmed, and the religious scholars of Somalia ('ulama al-Sumaal) for apostasy. Abu Mansoor al-Amriki, the American field commander in the group, is also briefly featured. October 15: Al-Shabaab began publicly whipping women for wearing bras that they claim violate Islam as they are deceptive. They sent gunmen into the streets of Mogadishu to round up any women who appear to be being deceptive. The women were then inspected by other women to see if they are being deceptive, if they are then they are ordered to stop. November 1: Al-Shabaab announced the establishment of al-Quds Brigade, a military unit specifically tasked with attacking Israel and Jewish interests in Africa. In a rally held the previous week in Mogadishu, a top al-Shabaab official said, "It is time to go for open war against Israel in order to drive them from the holy cities." December 3: 2009 Hotel Shamo bombing – Suspected of being behind the bombing of Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu, which kills 24, including three government ministers.

2010

January 2: A man linked to al-Shabaab tried to kill Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard at his home in Aarhus, Denmark. Westergaard was not hurt and the assailant was shot, wounded, and arrested. February 1: Al-Shabaab declares for the first time that it maintains strong ties with al-Qaeda. February 7: The militant group declares jihad on Kenya over allegations that it is training Somali troops although Kenya denied involvement. February 15: an al-Shabab suicide car bomber attempted to assassinate Somalia's state minister for defence, Yusuf Mohamed Siyad when he drove his explosive-laden vehicle towards Mr Siyad's car and detonated, injuring two of his security guards. March 5: The Government of Canada lists al-Shabaab as a terrorist group. March 26: Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a roadside bomb that exploded in Mogadishu killing a Somali government official and injuring the deputy DC for security. March 27: Al-Shabaab destroys grave sites of foreign soldiers and a prominent Sufi scholar and hides the body of the scholar. April 15: The group bans the ringing of school bells as un-Islamic since bell ringing is, in the words of Sheik Farah Kalar, "a sign of the Christian churches." June 5: Two New Jersey men, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, who were bound for Somalia seeking to join al-Shabab were arrested at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The men, who have been charged with conspiring to kill, maim, and kidnap persons outside the United States, allegedly planned to kill American troops who they thought would soon be deployed to Somalia to help fight al-Shabaab. July 11: Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for the July 2010 Kampala attacks, which killed 74 people. The Wall Street Journal quotes an International Crisis Group analyst as saying, [Al-Shabaab is] "sending a message: Don't come here propping up the Somalia government ... It's a message of deterrence." July 21: Zachary Chesser, the Virginia man who threatened the creators of South Park for satirizing issues surrounding the depiction of Muhammad, was arrested and charged in July 2010 for providing material support to al-Shabaab. Chesser was originally apprehended in New York as he attempted to board an Africa-bound plane. He later told federal authorities that he had attempted to join al-Shabaab in Somalia on two previous occasions. July 22: African Union ministers agree to expand AMISOM's mandate from a peacekeeping focus to a peace-enforcement focus that would engage al-Shabaab more directly. The decision was to be discussed at upcoming meetings of the AU Security Council and the UN Security Council for final approval. August 23–24: Al-Shabaab is accused of launching attacks in the Somali capital Mogadishu that kill over 300.