Al Shabaab Is Falling Apart
Al Shabaab Is Falling Apart October 28, 2010: Al Shabaab is falling apart. For the same reason Somalia has had no national government for two decades, al Shabaab has been split by clan and personal differences. Rival groups, mainly Hizbul Islam, and the Sufi coalition ASWJ (Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca) have grown stronger. So has the TNG (Transitional National Government), despite being the largest, most corrupt and most fragile coalition around. The net result is that the al Shabaab threat to dominate all of Somalia is gone. The internal feud is not just about clan matters, but also between those who accept al Qaeda foreigners, their money and their goals, and those who do not want to be dominated by these murderous foreigners. This has led to some justified anxiety among the al Qaeda members who have sought to establish terrorism bases in Somalia. For the last week, TNG and al Shabaab gunmen have been fighting to control the southeastern town of Beled-Hawa. This has caused over 50,000 c...