( CNN ) -- A militant Islamist group associated with al Qaeda has for the first time threatened to attack Israel , far from its normal base of operations in Somalia . Al-Shabab , which is fighting to control the east African country , accused Israel of `` starting to destroy '' the Al Aqsa mosque , where standoffs have taken place recently between Israeli police and Palestinians . The mosque is part of the complex that Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims call Haram al-Sharif . `` The Jews started to destroy parts of the holy mosque of Al Aqsa and they routinely kill our Palestinian brothers , so we are committed to defend our Palestinian brothers , '' said Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur , a prominent Al-Shabab commander . His threat was part of a series of fiery sermons delivered after Friday prayers in Baidoa in southwest Somalia . Al-Shabab controls the region , which is part of a country that has been without an effective national government for nearly 20 years . Other leaders of the group also threatened Israel , the first time the group is known to have done so . `` We will transfer and expand our fighting in the Middle East so we can defend Al Aqsa mosque from the Israelis , '' Al-Shabab commander Abdifatah Aweys Abu Hamza said in Mogadishu , the Somali capital . He is apparently the leader of a new Al-Shabab armed group calling themselves `` Mujahedin Al Aqsa , '' or `` Al Aqsa Holy Warriors , '' which they said is assigned to attack Israel . It is not clear whether Al-Shabab has the capacity to carry out its threats against Israel . But Rashid Abdi of the International Crisis Group , speaking last week before al-Shabab issued its threats against Israel , warned that the group should be taken seriously . `` We should not underestimate the capacity of Al-Shabab , '' he said . `` This is a deadly organization , a formidable foe . '' Abdi said the group had been mutating from a nationalist group into a terrorist organization more like al Qaeda , which was behind the September 11 , 2001 attacks on the United States . `` If you look at the rhetoric and language and if you look at the Web sites , if you hear their preachers or their scholars speak , it is completely indistinguishable from al Qaeda leaders , '' Abdi said . The group has also become more vicious in Somalia , a local human rights expert said . `` The most gruesome and gross violations of human rights are committed by Al-Shabab , '' activist Hassan Shire Sheikh said . `` They have also instilled fear . They just shoot , they kill , they maim and they lash . '' The group also threatened African neighbors on Friday , including Ethiopia , Djibouti , Kenya , Eritrea , Ghana , Sudan and Uganda . They have in the past threatened African nations that provide peacekeeping troops to the war-torn country . The U.S. State Department Country Reports on Terrorism from April lists Al-Shabab as a terrorist organization and blames it for shootings and suicide bombings inside Somalia . It does not list the group as having carried out violence outside Somalia , but says some members of the group have trained and fought alongside al Qaeda in Afghanistan . Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991 , when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and sparked brutal clan infighting . The transitional government has struggled to establish authority , challenged by Islamist groups like Al-Shabab that have seized control of Mogadishu and much of the south . CNN 's David McKenzie in Nairobi , Kenya , contributed to this report .
Al-Shabab accuses Israel of `` starting to destroy '' the Al Aqsa mosque . `` We are committed to defend our Palestinian brothers , '' Al-Shabab commander says . It is not clear whether Al-Shabab has the capacity to carry out its threats against Israel . Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991 , when warlords overthrew its dictator .