China looks to outflank US in Africa as Somalia faces terrorism, drought and famine

An armed conflict pitting the government of Somalia against al-Shabab terrorists is only adding to the African country's problems as it faces its worst drought in 40 years.

Not content with terrorizing the population, Islamist militant group al-Shabab, heavily linked to the al Qaeda terror movement, are now said to be actively and quickly bringing on famine in Somalia:  Paul Tilsley covers Africa for Fox News Digital. He has experience in 87 countries in producing, reporting, editing, direction, and live, business news feature producing, reporting, and writing for Fox Business, Fox News Channel, CNN, Sky News, BBC and ITN among others. He can be found on Twitter @paultilsley

"With international support, al-Shabab is facing some pressure. What they are doing now is to weaponize the devastating situation that we are seeing, accelerating the (onset of) famine," Jasmine Opperman, a former intelligence agent and now a leading security consultant specializing in extremism and political violence, told Fox News Digital. "They are intentionally displacing people who live under their rule."