On February 20^th, 2016, Al Shabab, an Al-Qaeda influenced militant group in Somalia, struck a high-profile Central hotel in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. This attack led to death of at least 15 people, which includes two members of parliament and a deputy mayor. In addition to the deaths, 20 people were injured in this attack. The attack began when car full of explosives blew up at the main entrance of the hotel and the attack was followed by heavy gunfire between the attackers and hotel guards.

This was not the first time Al-Shabaab has threatened the national security of Somalia. On January 22^nd, in another hotel attack, the same terrorist group killed 20 people with a car bombing of a similar fashion. Also, on February 26^th , 2016, 10 civilians were killed by gunmen of this insurgent group and later on 29^th February, another suicide car bomb attack has killed at least 30 people.

The group has long been known for attacks in Somalia that have killed international aid workers, journalists, civilian leaders and African Union peacekeepers. This group is an example of how political instability and grinding poverty can give birth to long-term national security threats and global terrorism.

From the collapse of the Somalian central government in 1991 has emerged clan wars and power struggles in this developing country. During political instability within Somalia, a group of Sharia courts united themselves and created the Islamic courts union, which was a rebel group to rival against transitional federal government (TFG) of Somalia and to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state.

Simultaneously, as young members of another Islamic extremist group al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI) strived from their predecessor, they created Al-Shabab, which means “the youth” in Arabic. Al-Shabab and Islamic courts union worked together to fight violently and fatally against foreign occupation and the TFG of Somalia. According to Christopher Anzalone, from 2008 up until the spring of 2011, this insurgent group has controlled most of the southern Somalia. After 2011, this group has faced a major decline in power. One of the factors that hindered this group’s rise was a major military invasion against it in the spring of 2011, with collaboration of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the Somali federal government and other allied militants. In addition, a significant increase in the size of AMISOM force inside Somalia, as well as Kenyan military assistance in southern Somalia, also contributed in continuous loss of its strength.

In his book, “Al-Shabaab in Somalia: The History and Ideology of a Militant Islamist Group, 2005 –2012” author Stig Jarle Hansen has stated that from a tactical point of view, Al-Shabab tends to follow the playbook of Al-Qaeda by using suicide bombings, which was an alien idea in Somalian culture. The strong influence of Somali fighters from the Afghanistan War in 1979-1989 is also visible through their defensive jihad ideology, as it was seen through their attacks.

Al-Shabab’s constant threat to national security has also affected the Somalian economy and all aspects of socio-political systems. In 2011, the U.N. declared a famine in the southern Somalia region. In accordance, the U.N. Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation has declared that Somalia has the highest mortality rate in the world for children ages 4 and younger, which is a negative indicator of health and human development system. In addition, Al-Shabab’s constant threat to international aid workers has made it difficult to access healthcare services and other basic aid.

The recent attacks of Al-Shabab puts the new government of Somalia and its strategies to fight terrorism in question. Will it be another international invasion or international collaboration?