Defectors reveal crippling extortion by Islamist terrorism group and ‘brainwashing’ of boys,as it suffers obvious crisis of moraleAl-Shabaab militants in Somalia are extorting huge sums from starving communities and forcibly recruiting hundreds of children as soldiers and suicide bombers as the terrorism group endures financial pressures and an obvious crisis of morale.
Intelligence documents, transcripts of interrogations with recent defectors and interviews conducted by the Guardian with inhabitants of areas in the swath of central and southern Somalia controlled by al-Shabaab believe shone a light on the severity of its harsh rule – but also revealed significant support in some areas.
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Source: guardian.co.uk