Al-Shabaab: How Great a Threat?

By Committee on Foreign Affairs House of Representatives and U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs

Al-Shabaab, which translates to "the youth," is al-Qaeda's franchise in the Horn of Africa. We are going to discuss the threat that it poses to Somalia, the threat to the Horn of Africa, to the region, and the threat that it poses to the West, including the United States. Al-Shabaab officially swore allegiance to al-Qaeda last year in February of 2012, but the leadership for many years of al-Shabaab had been working closely with Osama bin Laden. Al-Shabaab has been primarily focused in the past on attacking the young Somali Government because the focus on al-Shabaab was the establishment of a very extreme form of Sharia in Somalia. And they continued their attacks on African peacekeepers that came into that region that were working to secure that country. But this is changing, this is evolving. And the dramatic attack on September 21st on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, demonstrates al-Shabaab's ability and desire to threaten civilians throughout East Africa.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1497381142
• ISBN13: 9781497381148
• Release Date: March 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 66 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.1" x 8.5"