Those fears -- combined with a request from Somalia 's transitional government -- led Ethiopian forces to enter Somalia in December 2006 and to remove the ICU from power . Al-Shabaab is an al Qaeda -linked militant group based in U.S. . It was once allied with al Qaeda , which tried to impose order on the lawless country . The U.S. government designated it as a foreign terrorist organization in September of this year . Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a Kenyan mall in 2008 .
Al-Shabaab is an al Qaeda -linked militant group based in U.S. . It was once allied with al Qaeda , which tried to impose order on the lawless country . The U.S. government designated it as a foreign terrorist organization in September of this year . Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a Kenyan mall in 2008 .