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A Somali Islamist fighter from Hispul Islam patrols an empty street in Wardigkey, in Mogadishu - Source: Reuters -
Related
Four men linked to a Somali militant group were arrested in
Melbourne on suspicion of planning a commando-style suicide attack
with automatic weapons on an Australian military base, police
said.
Australian police said the four - Australian citizens of Somali or
Lebanese origin - had links to al Shabaab, a militant Islamist
group fighting for control of lawless Somalia.
Here are five facts about the group:
- Al Shabaab is an al Qaeda-inspired militant group that has
taken control of much of southern and central Somalia; which has
been mired in anarchy since warlords toppled military dictator
Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The interim government's attempts to
restore central rule have largely been paralysed by infighting and
the Islamist-led insurgency.
- Al Shabaab's hardline militia is waging war against the
government and Ethiopian allies, which ousted the Somalia Islamic
Courts Council (SICC) movement they were initially part of. SICC
ran widely despised warlords, who enjoyed US backing, out of
Mogadishu in June 2006 and ruled for six months before allied
Somali-Ethiopian forces ousted it. Many Somalis credited the SICC
with bringing a semblance of order to the capital.
- Al Shabaab is led by Muktar Ali Robow, also known as Abu Mansoor. Robow was the Islamic Courts' deputy defence secretary. Since their ouster, he has spearheaded an Iraq-style insurgency, waging regular roadside bombings, grenade attacks and ambushes.
- In February 2008 the group was blamed for the shelling of Somali President's Abdullahi Yusuf's presidential compound in the capital Mogadishu. Rights workers say fighting in the capital killed 6,500 people in 2007.
- The group has not been linked to international attacks, but overseas Somalis have been accused of financing the group. In March 2008 Norwegian police in Oslo detained and later released three men accused of financing al Shabaab's insurgent activities.
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