Al Shabaab In Somalia

The Al Shabaab are a terrorist group that has control over most of  Somalia. Somalia is now the most dangerous country in the world because it doesn’t have a formal government since 1991.

The Al Shabaab waged an insurgency against the  Transitional Federal Government of Somalia since 2007. They began showing up after the ICU, or Islamic Courts Union, took control of Somalia’s capitol, Mogadishu in 2006. Our government is concerned about this because this might give the Al Qaedaforces a foothold in Africa. This would mean that we have to deal with Al Qaeda problems in 2 different continents which means more troops will be deployed, and more fighting overseas.

The U.S. and Etheopia (the country next to Somolia) decided that they must take controll of Somolia from the Al Shabaab and ICU fighters. Etheopia decided that they must gain control of Mogadishu  in order to start clearing the country of the ICU and Al Shabaab. Their mission was successful, but they couldn’t gain control over most of the central and southern Somalia.

The Al Shabaab have killed many citizens in the areas they do have control over and the situation is similar to the situation with the Al Qaeda in Iraq. They have taxed the businesses and made laws in the parts of Somalia that they still control. It is estimated that they are making about $35-50 million each year off of these people.

As of now the Al Shabaab do not have any plans to go global like the Al Qaeda, but they are still a problem in Somalia. The U.S. does not have any plans to send soldiers over there to stop the Al Shabaab, but we are supporting the attempts of the Ethiopians and Kenyans.