article_snippet.sent: The battle with Al-Shabaab is not a new one, and every attempt at countering The battle with Al-Shabaab has only helped stall the inevitable -- another attack, more deaths.
article_snippet.sent: Al-Shabaab is not just a local terrorist group, Al-Shabaab's a transnational outfit," Al-Shabaab said.
article_snippet.sent: Al-Shabaab operates throughout a number of countries and recruits even people from the West.
article_snippet.sent: CNN's David McKenzie says Al-Shabaab is trying to maintain Al-Shabaab relevance as other terror groups like Boko Haram, ISIS and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula vie for power and influence.
article_snippet.sent: It's also possible that Al-Shabaab may have abandoned aspirations of seizing a large chunk of territory after taking losses in Somalia, and decided instead to focus purely on terrorism.
article_snippet.sent: In 2012, Al-Shabaab declared complete allegiance to al Qaeda.
article_snippet.sent: Previously, there had been a rift among the Somali terrorists over whether or not to pursue global jihad or just to concentrate on Somalia.