section_path: History/2006–2009: Ethiopian invasion
section_name: 2006–2009: Ethiopian invasion
paragraph_text: 2006–2009: Ethiopian invasion
  
  Al-Shabaab rose to prominence and radicalized following the full scale Ethiopian invasion of Somalia during December 2006. At the time, al-Shabaab was about six hundred fighters strong. The invasion resulted in the deaths of many Islamic Courts Union affiliates, leaving a vacuum for the small group of several hundred youth that served as the ICU's Shabaab militia to gain prominence. During the military occupation the group garnered popular support from across many segments of Somali society, as al-Shabaab was widely viewed as a genuine resistance movement against the Ethiopian military occupation; despite its inclinations towards hardline interpretations of Islam. Though the invasion had fractured the Islamic Courts Union, it galvanized non-ethnic religious Islamic nationalism on which al-Shabaab capitalized, especially for recruitment purposes, with thousands of new recruits drawn to the group.
  
  During 2008, al-Shabaab began rapidly expanding and governing territory for the first time. The African Union reported al-Shabaab was about 2,000 fighters strong during 2008. Many ordinary citizens had been radicalized by the US-backed Ethiopian invasion, enabling al-Shabaab to firmly embed itself in the regions social, economic and political environment. According to Cocodia, "al-Shabaab from an objective standpoint is the response of an unlawfully deposed regime employing all means possible to reclaim the authority that was wrenched from it." In the initial years, many Somalis perceived al-Shabaab as disciplined, orderly, and fair, which earned the group significant legitimacy. However, this perception was later lost due to their arbitrary rulings. Violence and war crimes against civilians carried out by the Ethiopian military rallied many to support the organization, and over the following two years al-Shabaab became battle hardened. In this period, the group laid the foundation for an enduring insurgency in Somalia, establishing networks and territorial bases concentrated in the rural south-central regions.
  
  A critical juncture in transformation of al-Shabaab was the assassination of the groups military leader Aden Hashi Ayro in an American airstrike during May 2008. It resulted in several significant developments for al-Shabaab, most prominently the accession of Ahmed Godane to leadership of the organization. Godane moved al-Shabaab in a far more violent direction, alienating many fighters and civilian supporters. The assassination of Ayro did nothing to prevent the groups expansion. The withdrawal of Ethiopian troops in January 2009 significantly diminished the public support that al-Shabaab had previously enjoyed as a resistance faction. However, this move came too late to have a substantial impact on the group's transformation into a formidable oppositional force.