Who Is Al-Shabab and Is It a Threat to the US?

A member of the Kenyan Defence Forces stands guard at the Garissa University campus after an attack by Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab gunmen in Garissa on April 2, 2015. At least 70 students were massacred when Somalia's Shebab Islamist group attacked a Kenyan university today, the interior minister said, the deadliest attack in the country since US embassy bombings in 1998. AFP PHOTO / CARL DE SOUZA (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)

For years, the terrorist group al-Shabab has carried out attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries—culminating in Thursday’s attack on Garissa University College in Kenya that left 147 dead and 79 injured, Kenya’s government confirmed.

About a month ago, al-Shabab issued a threat to malls in the United States, including the Mall of America, but a Homeland Security representative said at the time there’s no credible plot against American shopping malls. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in February, “Anytime a terrorist organization calls for an attack on a specific place, we’ve got to take that seriously.”

Some members of al-Shabab are Somali-Americans from places like Minneapolis, New York, New Jersey, and California, the Council on Foreign Relations think tank said.

So, who are Somalia’s al-Shabab?

It has been deemed a terrorist organization aligned with al-Qaeda, and the group’s name means “The Youth” in Arabic. It started off as a radical wing of Somalia’s Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in 2006.

The group is said to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters, mostly in Somalia. In recent years, a Kenya-led African Union military campaign has forced al-Shabab out of major cities in Somalia, weakening the group significantly. It left Mogadishu in 2011 and fled the port city of Kismayo in 2012.

But even so, “security analysts warn that the group remains the principal threat in a politically volatile, war-torn state,” said the CFR. The group has claimed responsibility for the deadly terrorist attacks in Uganda’s capital in 2010 and the Nairobi mall attack in 2013 that killed at least 68 people.

Like ISIS, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups, al-Shabab attempts to implement its strict interpretation of Shariah in areas under its control. The terrorist group is known to stone women to death and amputate the hands of thieves.

Last week, the group released a video that appears to show the mass execution of civilians. The video, called “Remembrance 2,” shows masked terrorists shooting and killing Somali men with assault rifles on a beach.

The location of the Kenya terrorist attack (Google Maps)