media landscape guide about Somalia - Internews

But in recent years these inter-clan conflicts have been overshadowed by thestruggle for supremacy by Al Shabaab, an Islamic fundamentalist militia whichhas close links with the global Islamist movement Al Qaeda.In January 2012 Al Shabaab controlled most of South Central Somalia.But it was battling against the Transitional Federal Government, based inMogadishu, and military incursions into Somalia by the armed forces ofEthiopia and Kenya.Al Shabaab was also under threat from aerial attacks by US military drones.And within South Central Somalia, there were still pockets of territorycontrolled by other militias. Some of these were allied to the authorities inMogadishu. Al Shabaab’s writ did not run in these areas.In January 2012, most of the city of Mogadishu was controlled by theinternationally recognized Transitional Federal Government. But its authorityextended no further than the city limits.The survival of this administration depended on the protection provided by9,600 Ugandan and Burundian troops operating under the authority of theAfrican Union.This force, created in 2007, is known as the African Union Mission in Somalia(AMISOM). It was reinforced by additional troops from Djibouti in early 2012.4