Is al-Shabab taking its fight beyond Somalia and into the Horn of Africa and does it pose a regional threat?

After focusing its efforts on Somalia's southern region over the past three years the group appears to be gaining momentum as it continues to challenge the country's weak transitional government. 

The recent bomb attacks in Uganda were the first time the organisation struck outside Somalia's borders. 

Al-Shabab claims the attacks were in response to the presence of Ugandan forces in Somalia, which are operating as part of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).

As African leaders meet in Kampala at the African Union summit this week, the issues of Somalia's security and AMISOM's role will be at the top of the agenda.

On Wednesday's Riz Khan, we speak with Abdi Samatar, a professor at the University of Minnesota who has covered most of the peace conferences on Somalia as well as foreign interventions in the country, Alem Hailu, a professor at Howard University's Department of African Studies, and Mark Schroeder, the director of Sub-Saharan Africa Analysis for Stratfor, a global intelligence firm.

This episode of the Riz Khan show aired from Wednesday, July 21, 2010.