Members of the hardline al-Shabaab Islamist rebel group, now on Canada's terror list, parade through the outskirts of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, January 1, 2010. (Reuters) On March 7, 2010, the Canadian government added al-Shabaab, a Somali insurgent group with links to al-Qaeda, to this country's terrorist list, following claims that the organization is targeting Canadian youth. The designation came somewhat out of the blue and a week after the British government did the same thing, raising the questions: Who is this group and what is known about them?
What is al-Shabaab?
The al-Shabaab Mujahedeen is an armed group of mostly young adherents in Somalia with links to al-Qaeda. Shabaab means youth in Arabic.
The group currently controls large swaths of southern Somalia, including parts of the capital, Mogadishu.
The Stratfor intelligence company puts the number of al-Shabaab fighters at 6,000-7,000.
When was the group formed?
In 2006, a loosely affiliated group known as the Islamic Courts Union, composed of Sharia court officials and other Islamists, took control of much of southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, from the Transitional Federal Government.
Somalia President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a former insurgent, has asked for Western help in combatting the two main Islamist groups, including al-Shabaab. (Reuters) In July, neighbouring Ethiopia, with U.S. backing, invaded Somalia and defeated the ICU forces by the end of the year.The defeat led to the splintering of the ICU coalition and al-Shabaab was one of two prominent hard-line groups that emerged from the ICU as a separate organization.
At the time, Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders were issuing statements about Somalia, including calls for foreign Islamists to go there and fight.
What relationship is there between al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab?
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 2008, Sheik Muktar Robow, an al-Shabaab leader and spokesman, said the group was negotiating with al-Qaeda to "unite into one."
He said al-Shabaab would take orders from bin Laden and that, "al-Qaeda is the mother of the holy war in Somalia."
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