The struggle for the Horn of Africa

摘要

In 2005 three dozen Somalis formed a club of Islamists, soon dubbing themselves the Shabab (Arabic for "youth"). Chaos had reigned over Somalia for a generation and there had been no real government since the military ruler, Siad Barrie, fell in 1991. But within a year or so, the Shabab was the dominant force within a loose coalition of Islamic courts that had sought with some grim success to impose order. By 2009 the Shabab, with a core of 5,000-odd fighters, had mastered a good half of the country and made most of the rest virtually ungovernable.