Who are al-Shabab?

The group refused to engage in the peace process that brought elements of the Islamic courts into the government earlier this year.

Sharif Ahmed, a former leader of the ICU, was sworn in as president of Somalia‘s government, but his former allies vowed to topple accusing him of betraying the country. 

Al-Shabab is led by Muktar Ali Robow, also known as Abu Mansoor, who was previously the Islamic courts’ deputy defense secretary.

Since Sharif’s government took power, al-Shabab has been waging a brutal war against Somalia‘s government forces.

Well-organized

Although very little known about the group, it is considered to be a well-organized, hierarchical organization.

Among the group’s stated objectives is to implement its own strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia, in Somalia.

Al-Shabab first emerged when they started fighting criminal gangs in Mogadishu, the capital, and later began targeting the city’s kidnapping rings, pitting the group directly against the clan leaders who profited from the rings.

It is believed that Adan Hashi Ayro, the group’s former military, and his fellow al-Shabab patrons were trained in Afghanistan and built the group along the lines of the Taliban, that ruled in Kabul until 2001.

Source: Africanews.com