Rift in al-Shabaab could provide West with a window of opportunity to broker peace

AL-SHABAAB is losing strength on the ground. Having lost control of major towns in Somalia, the insurgents now enjoy very little support from civilians. Is this the moment for the international community to explore new options for regaining peace?

A rift in the leadership of al-Shabaab over ideology and lack of funding has further weakened the militant group, which has in the past controlled large parts of the war-torn country. The moderate faction seems to have fallen out with the extremist wing after the introduction of strict Sharia law.

The extremist group banned international aid from getting to the famine-ravaged towns, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Somalis with many thousands left on the brink of starvation.

The exit of the militants this weekend from some of their bases in southern Somalia could be a ploy for the group to look "responsible" and try to regain the support of civilians. It could equally be for the purpose of marshalling forces to hit back at the African Union troops and the weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu.

Although al-Shabaab is on the back foot on the ground, the TFG cannot not afford to wallow in the victory. The Somali people don't place much hope in the western-backed TFG, which has largely been an embarrassment for the country. Its infighting and corruption leads many Somalis to believe the TSG is part of the problem.

Make no mistake, al-Shabaab has been popular with Somalis, particularly during the US-backed invasion of the country by Ethiopian troops in 2006.

But the international community could use the difficulties that al-Shabaab is going through to reach out to moderates in the Islamist group and - including some of the leaders in the TFG - work on a way to broker peace.

• Fatuma Noor is a Somali-Kenyan journalist and a 2011 David Astor Journalism Award winner