Horn of Africa-based Islamist movement affiliated with al-Qaeda
Al-Shabaab is an Islamist militant group based in the Horn of Africa that has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda. It matters because it has carried out significant terrorist attacks in the region and beyond, making it a major security concern for East African countries and their international partners.
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Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, simply known as Al-Shabaab, is a Sunni Islamist political and militant organization based in Somalia. It is involved in the ongoing Somali Civil War and controls territory in south and southwestern Somalia, which is referred to as the Islamic Wilayat of Somalia. The group has regularly invoked takfir to rationalize its terrorist attacks on Somali civilians and civil servants. It is allied to the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda, it is also in a more limited capacity active elsewhere in East Africa, and has forged ties with other insurgent groups like AQIM and AQAP.
Formed in the mid-2000s as a youth militia within the wider military wing of the Islamic Courts Union, Al-Shabaab came to prominence during the 2006–2009 Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia, during which it presented itself as a vehicle for the waging of armed resistance against the occupying Ethiopian army. In subsequent years, it gained popular support from Somalis and became a dominant force in south and central Somalia, defending large swathes of territory by fighting against the African Union Mission to Somalia and the Federal Government of Somalia, as well as the latter's transitional predecessor. Al-Shabaab gained international prominence due to its recruitment of foreign fighters, including fighters who are from Western countries. Countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates have designated it as a terrorist organization, and the United States has militarily intervened in order to fight against the group.
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