After a Kenyan-led military operation pushed Al-Shabaab out of population centers in 2011 , pro-al Qaeda hawks within the group gained the upper hand . Al-Shabaab chief Mukhtar Abu Zubayr has a reputation for being secretive , merciless . Zubayr wants his group to be able to deliver devastating attacks beyond Somalia . He is also known as the man who ordered the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed 224 people and wounded more than 1,000 others. Zubayr 's tactics have led to dissent in his group , which he has ruthlessly suppressed .
Al-Shabaab chief Mukhtar Abu Zubayr has a reputation for being secretive , merciless . Zubayr wants his group to be able to deliver devastating attacks beyond Somalia . He is also known as the man who ordered the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed 224 people and wounded more than 1,000 others. Zubayr 's tactics have led to dissent in his group , which he has ruthlessly suppressed .