Somalia's al Shabaab Appoints a New Leader

Unconfirmed reports have said that Somali jihadist group al Shabaab has replaced current leader Ahmad Abdi Godane (also known as Abu Zubayr) with Ibrahim Haji Mead (also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani), a top al Shabaab commander and close associate of Godane. Questions have surrounded Godane's leadership for some time and for a variety of reasons, especially among the more nationalist factions of al Shabaab, but his replacement is unlikely to be a vast departure for the militant group. However, al-Afghani will need to court those nationalist factions if he ever hopes to retake the Somali capital of Mogadishu.