The al-Shabaab militant group initially called the harakat shabaab al-mujahidin (movement of striving youths), was formerly the military wing of the Somali council of Islamic courts. The group overhauled most of southern parts of Somalia in 2006. The group forcefully imposes strict sharia laws to the local occupants and punishes whoever breaks the laws. The group was formed from Islamic courts union (ICU) when the union broke into smaller factions after it was defeated in 2006 by the transitional federal government (TFG) and their Ethiopian allies who helped transitional federal government combat al-Shabaab. Since then al-Shabaab has been engaged Continue reading...