Cutting Off the Head of al Shabaab

The campaign against Somali Islamist militia al Shabaab has taken a turn this year. Thanks to increasing professionalism among some units of the Somali military, which has led to better intelligence operations and heightened cooperation with U.S. special operations forces, strikes have occurred more frequently against high-value targets (HVTs) in al Shabaab. But despite the security forces' recent successes, the Islamist group still poses a significant security threat. Not only does it continue to launch terrorist attacks in Mogadishu and beyond, but it also regularly amasses forces capable of chasing Somali army and African Union troops from their positions in southern Somalia.