ABSTRACT
Al Shabaab which in Arabic means ‘the youth,’ was founded in 2006 as a radical arm of the Union of Islamic Courts in Mogadishu and is estimated to control over 7000 fighters (see Calamur 2013). Their leader Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in a US air strike in May 2008 and was replaced by Ahmed Abdi Godane (or Abu Zubayr) as their top commander (Ungerleider 2013). Al Shabaab operates from the Southern and Central Somalia with a mission to create a fundamentalist Islamic state in Somalia. It enforces a harsh interpretation of the Sharia and like the Boko Haram, prohibits Western lifestyle and entertainment. Hence, it condemns Western education, music, movies, haircut, etc., and had kidnapped and conscripted schoolchildren to fight in battles. They attack nonMuslims, including Christians and are a major threat to humanitarian and other international workers. For instance, the group was said to be responsible for the assassination of Somali peace activists, international aid workers, journalists and numerous civil society personnel, and was blamed for blocking the delivery of aid from some Western relief agencies during the 2011 famine that killed thousands of Somalis (see Masters 2013).
