Al - Shabaab is an al - Qaeda - linked militant group based in Somalia . It was once allied with Sharia courts , which tried to impose Islam on the lawless country . The Kenyan government designated Al - Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization in 2008 . The United States believed then that the group was coordinating with al Qaeda groups in Yemen and might have been plotting attacks in the region and abroad . Al - Shabaab claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a Kenyan mall in January 2013 .
Al - Shabaab is an al - Qaeda - linked militant group based in Somalia . It was once allied with Sharia courts , which tried to impose Islam on the lawless country . The Kenyan government designated Al - Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization in 2008 . Al - Shabaab claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a Kenyan mall in January 2013 .