A joint communique issued by Al Shabaab and Al Qaeda in February 2012 further solidified the relationship between the two groups. Zawahiri welcomed "the joining of the Al Shabaab Al Muhajideen Movement in Somalia to Al Qaeda in support of the jihad gathering in the face of the Zionist Crusade campaigan."

Al Shabaab has also established links to the Yemeni regional affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).  This relationship was highlighted by information gathered from an Al Shabaab leader, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, who was detained by the American military while traveling between Somalia and Yemen.  He reportedly confirmed that Al Shabaab seeks to expand its operations beyond Somalia and has received training and weapons from AQAP. 

Al Shabaab started as the military wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts, which took over most of southern Somalia in 2006.  Though this group was routed by the Somali government and Ethiopian forces, a clan-based insurgent terrorist group remained.  The group has managed to exert control over much of southern and central Somalia including large portions of the capital, Mogadishu. 

Al Shabaab finances itself through donations from abroad, taxing the areas under its control, and increasingly through piracy and ransom.  There are also allegations that Eritrea finances Al Shabaab activities to use it as a proxy against its regional rivals.

The group has claimed responsibility for attacks against Ethiopian forces, African Union troops, and the internationally-supported Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.  For example, a suicide bombing in December 2009 killed three government ministers along with 19 others during a graduation ceremony at Mogadishu's Benadir University.  More recently, Al Shabaab recruited the Somali Interior Minister's niece, who assassinated the minister in a suicide bombing at his home.

The group has also stated its intent to target Western interests.  After the U.S. designated Al Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2008, former Al Shabaab spokesman Sheik Mukhtar Robow reportedly told the BBC that, "Al-Shabab feels honored to be included on the list. We are good Muslims and the Americans are infidels.  We are on the right path."  In April 2009, Al Shabaab fired mortar shells at a U.S. congressman as his plane lifted off from a Somalia airport. 

While Al Shabaab's terror-related activities had been confined within the borders of Somalia and its immediate vicinity, twin bombings in Uganda in July 2010 marked the first time the Somali-based organization launched an international terrorist attack.  The bombings, which tore through two venues where crowds gathered to watch the broadcast of the World Cup finals, killed more than 70 people, including an American aid worker. 

A member of Al Shabaab, who has been arrested for allegedly masterminding the Uganda bombings, reportedly admitted that he was motivated by hatred of the U.S.  "My rage was with the Americans whom I deemed responsible for all the suffering of Muslims around the world," the alleged ringleader said.  "I targeted places where many Americans go."

Al Shabaab spokesman Ali Mahmud Ragi, who claimed responsibility for the bombings, threatened additional attacks against Uganda and other African countries if they do not withdraw their soldiers from the African Union's peacekeeping mission stationed in Somalia to protect the country's transitional government.

Six months before the Uganda attacks, Somali national Mohammed Muhideen Gelle attempted to kill a Danish cartoonist who printed controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005.  While Al Shabaab did not claim responsibility for Gelle's actions, Danish intelligence officials have alleged that Gelle is linked to the Somali-based terrorist organization.

As further indication of Al Shabaab's intent to operate outside of Somalia, the group has declared an "open battle" against Israel, which it deems the "oppressing Zionist entity," and Jewish interests in Africa.

In November 2009, the terrorist organization announced the establishment of Al Quds Brigade, a military unit specifically tasked with attacking Israel and freeing "Islamic holy places" from the Israelis.  A Somali was arrested at the Cairo airport in May 2011 and confessed to being part of a cell with plans to attack Western interest in Egypt and Israel. Previously, 720 Somalis affiliated with Al Shabaab were selected to travel to Lebanon to fight Israel in the 2006 Lebanon War, according to a U.N report.  Part of the criteria for selection included combat experience in Afghanistan.