section_path: History/2011–13: Internal and external challenges
section_name: 2011–13: Internal and external challenges
paragraph_text: 2011–13: Internal and external challenges
  
  In subsequent years, however, al-Shabaab's strong position was significantly weakened, as – in the context of a famine in the region and, simultaneously, a military offensive against the group – the group experienced territorial and strategic setbacks in the military arena; an internal struggle over the group's direction and leadership; and, in response to both, a wave of high-profile defections.