An alliance between Al Shabaab and the Hizbul Islam militias looks determined to seize the capital but their arms suppliers face UN sanctions
More than 200 people have been killed and over 50,000 people chased from their homes in this month's offensive by insurgents against President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's regime in Mogadishu, says the United Nations. The UN Special Representative, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, called it an attempted coup by anti-government forces. Al Shabaab did not win but made its mark, spearheading an 'extremist front', most of whose fighters are from various groups within Hizbul Islam, with which it has formed an uneasy alliance.
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