article_snippet.sent: Terrorist group Al-Shabaab incursions triggered a military response by the government in Nairobi, which sent troops to Somalia as part of an African Union mission in support of Somalia's internationally recognized government that had been under pressure from Terrorist group Al-Shabaab and other militants for several years.
article_snippet.sent: Terrorist group Al-Shabaab is predominantly driven by the same radical interpretation of the Koran as al-Qaeda and ISIS (also known as Islamic State), but also employs more opportunistic approaches to shoring up local support.
article_snippet.sent: Terrorist group Al-Shabaab origins lie in Al-Ittihad al-Islami (Unity of Islam), one of several militant factions that emerged in the wake of the fall of Siad Barre in 1991.
article_snippet.sent: These disparate groups fought each other and a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Somali civil war that led to the complete collapse of the country, from which Terrorist group Al-Shabaab has yet to recover almost quarter of a century later.
article_snippet.sent: Terrorist group Al-Shabaab split from Unity of Islam in 2003 and merged with another radical Islamist group, the so-called Islamic Courts Union.
article_snippet.sent: As another radical Islamist group, the so-called Islamic Courts Union alliance obtained control of Somalia's capital Mogadishu in 2006, Ethiopia, the only majority Christian country in the region, took military action against another radical Islamist group, the so-called Islamic Courts Union.
article_snippet.sent: The offensive weakened Al-Shabaab and pushed Al-Shabaab back into the rural areas of central and southern Somalia, but Al-Shabaab failed to defeat Al-Shabaab.
article_snippet.sent: To the contrary, Ethiopia's invasion and occupation of parts of Somalia -- although invited by the Somali government and backed by the African Union -- enabled Al-Shabaab to partially re-invent Al-Shabaab as both an Islamist and nationalist force opposing a foreign "Christian" invasion.
article_snippet.sent: Initially, another radical Islamist group, the so-called Islamic Courts Union primarily attacked Ethiopian forces, but soon began to "expand" another radical Islamist group, the so-called Islamic Courts Union activities against the Somali government as well.
article_snippet.sent: Increasing Al-Shabaab links with al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab declared Al-Shabaab full allegiance in 2012 -- and it is not clear whether Al-Shabaab will switch allegiances to ISIS.
article_snippet.sent: Much will depend on how the relationships between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a long-time ally of Al-Shabaab based in Yemen, and ISIS develop.