Al-Shabaab is the name of a terrorist group which claimed responsibility for the siege of a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya on Sept. 21 of last year that killed at least 67 people.

The group, designated as a terrorist organization, effectively merged with Al Qaeda after declaring its allegiance two years ago. Since then they have battled with African defense forces over control of Somalia, which it wants to turn into a fundamentalist Islamist state. U.S. intelligence says that the group has shown interest in increasing its presence to outside of Somalia.

According to one CNN report: "The terror group is notorious for prohibiting recreational activities, and has banned films, dancing and watching soccer in the past. It had also barred foreign aid organizations from southern Somalia, describing them as Western spies and Christian crusaders."

"The Somali government strongly condemns such acts which show continued brutality and terrorist tactics of intimidation by trying to ban Somalis from using the Internet," said the minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled. "Our constitution guarantees freedom of expression and every citizen has the right to access information without fear."

Last October, Navy Seals had mixed success in several raids which were aimed at capturing members of the Al-Shahaab leadership. Sunday's airstrike is believed to have killed Sahal Iskudhuq when the missile struck his vehicle. Iskudhuq was an Al-Shabaab commander who was close to the head of the militant Islamist group and to Al Qaeda.

"The U.S. has stepped up military operations in Somalia. This month, Pentagon officials acknowledged that several advisors had been sent to Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, to advise African Union troops and Somalia's fledgling military," reported the LA Times.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in 2010 in Uganda, retaliation for Ugandan participation in the African Union Mission in Somalia which supports government forces fighting Al-Shabaab.