Al-Shabaab (militant group)

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Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen simply known as al-Shabaab is a transnational Salafi-Wahhabi Jihadist militant organization. It is involved in the ongoing Somali Civil War, controlling a non-contiguous network of primarily rural areas in southern and central Somalia that some consider a quasi-state. The group refers to the territory under its control as the Islamic Wilayaat of Somalia. The Federal Government of Somalia does not recognize these titles or territorial claims. Al-Shabaab has invoked takfir to rationalize its terrorist attacks on Somali civil servants and civilians. It is, in a more limited capacity, active elsewhere in East Africa, and is the official branch of al-Qaeda in the region. Al-Shabaab has been designated as a terrorist organization by numerous countries. The militant group remains subject to international sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, and other jurisdictions. Formed in the mid-2000s as a youth militia within the wider...

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