Brazen, brutal: 5 terror groups making headlines this month

Over the weekend, Al- Shabaab released a video urging its sympathizers to attack malls in the United States, UK and Canada. The same day, ISIS had one showing its members parading caged captives down the streets of Iraq, the latest in its string of atrocious videos.

Then there’s the ever-present threat of al Qaeda, the brutality of the Boko Haram and the looming Taliban.

The United States has a list of 59 designated terror groups, but here are the five that have been making news this month.

Al-Shabaab

What is it?: A Somali-based terror group with links to al Qaeda.

What’s being done about it?: The Pakistani government has tried to hold peace talks with the Taliban, but they have collapsed. Western officials have accused the Pakistani intelligence agency of colluding with militant groups, making distrust a major hurdle to effective collaboration. In Afghanistan, the U.S. and NATO have thousands of troops training Afghan security forces on counterterrorism operations.

Is it a global threat? Yes. It has attacked a series of western facilities, including a U.S. military base in Afghanistan and a consulate in Peshawar.

CNN’s Greg and Richard Allen Greene contributed to this report.

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