Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (HSM), more commonly known as al-Shabaab is the Somalia-based cell of the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda, formally recognized in 2012. As of 2012, the outfit controls large swathes of the southern parts of the country, where it is said to have imposed its own strict form of Sharia law. Al-Shabaab's troop strength as of May 2011 was estimated at 14,426 militants. In February 2012, Al-Shabaab leaders quarreled with Al-Qaeda over the union, and quickly lost ground.
The group is an off-shoot of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which splintered into several smaller factions after its defeat in 2006 by the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the TFG's Ethiopian military allies. Al-Shabaab describes itself as waging jihad against "enemies of Islam", and is engaged in combat against the TFG and the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Alleging ulterior motives on the part of foreign organizations, group members have also reportedly intimidated, kidnapped and killed aid workers, leading to a suspension of humanitarian operations and an exodus of relief agents. [source: wikipedia]
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The Associated Press
written by Abdi Guled
Thursday January 17, 2013
MOGADISHU, Somalia — African Union troops mistakenly opened fire on a religious school while pursuing militants, killing five children and two adults, a Somali legislator said Thursday.
Dahir Amin Jesow, who visited the scene of the attack at Leggo village, said all five children were less than 10 years old.
Jesow said the attack in the village 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, took place around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Students of Islamic schools in Somalia often attend class in the early morning.
The AU soldiers were earlier attacked by militants, Jesow said.
The Somali government condemned the killings. "We have zero patience for the killing of innocent civilians," Abdikarim Hussein Guled, Somalia's interior minister said in a statement issued after a cabinet meeting.
"We demand a clarification from the AMISOM on that attack," he said.
The African Union Mission for Somalia, known as AMISOM, said it is investigating the incident.
"AMISOM is mindful of its responsibility to minimize civilian casualties during its operations and we have clear rules of engagement to that effect. We are therefore currently establishing the facts and the circumstances around this tragic incident so as to ascertain whether, and to what extent, these rules may have been breached," said Acting Force Commander Maj. General Salvatore Harushimana in a statement Wednesday evening
AU troops are in Somalia to bolster the country's weak government, which is facing an insurgency from al-Qaida-linked militants.
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