Al-Shabab
means The Youth in Arabic. It emerged as the radical youth wing of
Somalia's now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts in 2006, as it fought
Ethiopian forces who had entered Somalia to back the weak interim
government.
There are numerous reports of foreign jihadists going to Somalia to help al-Shabab and it has formed links with al-Qaeda.It is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK.
It has imposed a strict version of Sharia law in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves.
The African Union (AU), which is supporting government forces, hailed both as major victories, however al-Shabab still carries out fairly frequent suicide attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
Analysts believe al-Shabab is increasingly focusing on guerrilla warfare to counter the firepower of AU forces. But the group is under pressure on several fronts following Kenya's incursion into Somalia in 2011. Kenya accused al-Shabab fighters of kidnapping tourists, and its forces, now under the AU banner, have been in the forefront of the push against al-Shabab in the south up to Kismayo.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian forces moved in from the west and seized control of the central towns of Beledweyne and Baidoa.
Ahmed
Abdi Godane is the head of the group. Known as Mukhtar Abu Zubair, he
comes from the northern breakaway region of Somaliland.
Mr Godane is rarely seen in public. His predecessor, Moalim Aden Hashi Ayro, was killed in a US airstrike in 2008. Mr Godane, who was behind the group's tie-up with al-Qaeda and has a hardline, international agenda has recently emerged victorious from an internal power-struggle.
His rival, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is more focussed on the struggle within Somalia. He is now in government custody, while several of his allies have been killed.
What are al-Shabab's foreign links?
Al-Shabab
joined al-Qaeda in February 2012. In a joint video, al-Shabab leader
Ahmed Abdi Godane said he "pledged obedience" to al-Qaeda head Ayman
al-Zawahiri.The two groups have long worked together and foreigners are known to fight alongside Somali militants.
US officials believe that with al-Qaeda on the retreat in Afghanistan and Pakistan following the killing of Osama bin Laden, its fighters will increasingly take refuge in Somalia.
There have also been numerous reports that al-Shabab may have formed some links with other militants groups in Africa, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Al-Shabab has said it carried out the deadly assault on a shopping centre in Nairobi on 21 September, in which at least 68 people were killed.
It was responsible for a double suicide bombing in Uganda's capital, Kampala, which killed 76 people watching the 2010 football World Cup final on television.
The attack was carried out because Uganda - along with Burundi - provided the bulk of the AU troops in Somalia before the Kenyans went in.
Analysts say the militants often enter and leave Kenya without being intercepted. Their fighters are said to even visit the capital, Nairobi, for medical treatment.
The 2002 twin attacks on Israeli targets near the Kenyan resort of Mombasa were allegedly planned in Somalia by an al-Qaeda cell, while the US believes some of the al-Qaeda operatives who carried out the 1998 attacks on its embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam then fled to Somalia.
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