Suicide bomber hits Somalia presidential compound; 12 dead

Hell on Earth.

The story comes from DAWN.

Suicide bomber hits Somalia presidential compound; 12 dead

MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber has detonated an explosives-laden truck near the gate of Somalia’s presidential palace in the capital on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, police say.

The bomb exploded during a morning traffic jam, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein, a senior police officer. Some Cabinet ministers at the SYL hotel were among the 31 injured, said Hussein.

The blast damaged nearby hotels often frequented by government officials and business executives, he said. The explosion was heard across Mogadishu, and smoke was seen billowing over the area of the presidential compound. Somalia’s Islamic extremist group Al Shabab has claimed the responsibility for the blast, according to the rebels’ Andalus radio station.

The injured were taken to Mogadishu’s Madina Hospital, said Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, the hospital’s director. The massive blast left a trail of destruction across the hilltop presidential complex and to nearby hotels.

The bombing tore into blast walls protecting hotels and blew off the roofs of nearby houses. “Security forces tried to stop the bomber who used back roads before he sped through checkpoints near the presidential palace and detonated the bomb,” said Col. Ali Nur, a police officer.

“He reached near the gate of the state house with flat tires.” While Al Shabab has been ousted from most of Somalia’s cities, it continues to carry out bombings and suicide attacks, notably in the capital.In late July, two Al Shabab suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars outside the office of the UN’s mine-clearing agency and an army checkpoint near the African Union’s main base in Mogadishu, killing 13.

Other attacks have targeted hotels. In June, extremist gunmen stormed the Nasa-Hablod hotel, killing at least 14. Two weeks before that, extremist gunmen killed 15, including two members of parliament, at the Ambassador hotel.

Barack Hussein Obama Sends Military Advisors To Somalia

Another war for Obama?

The story comes from Times of India.

US deploys small team of military advisers to Somalia


WASHINGTON: The United States has sent a handful of military advisers to Somalia in recent months to help bolster an African Union force fighting Islamist militants there, officials said on Friday.

The deployment marks the first stationing of US troops in the troubled country since 1993, when two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down and 18 Americans were killed in a disastrous operation.

"The US has established a military coordination cell in Somalia to provide planning and advisory support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali security forces to increase their capabilities and promote peace and security throughout Somalia and the region," US Africa Command spokesman Colonel Tom Davis said in a statement.

The small team, which was launched in October and became fully operational last month, numbers "fewer than five" troops, a defence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The troops will be based at Mogadishu airport, working alongside the AU mission to confront resurgent extremist militants, the official said, confirming the previously undisclosed deployment.

The African Union mission supports Somali government forces, which have rolled back Shebab fighters out of key cities over the past 18 months.

The US move comes as Washington steps up military assistance across Africa amid growing concern over Al-Qaida-linked militants in Libya, Mali, Somalia and other countries.

The Pentagon has provided cargo aircraft and intelligence to French forces battling Islamists in Mali and uses airfields in Djibouti, Ethiopia and elsewhere to fly US drone aircraft.

In October, Navy SEAL commandos carried out a raid on the seaside home of a al-Shabaab militant but the operation had to be aborted and the operative was not captured.

Although the al-Shabaab militia has suffered battlefield setbacks in Somalia, it has orchestrated a number of attacks in other East African countries, including a bloody four-day siege of a shopping centre in Nairobi in September that killed dozens.

The UN security council in November approved an increase of 4,400 troops to the African Union mission in Somalia, expanding it from 17,700 to more than 22,100. The force is comprised of troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda.

For the United States, the deployment of a handful of advisers reflects a gradual shift in approach as previously any boots on the ground were considered out of the question given the 1993 debacle in Somalia, which later became the subject of a best-selling book and film, "Blackhawk Down."

In the operation 20 years ago, US army rangers and special forces set out to capture two deputies of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid but two Blackhawk helicopters were downed by rocket-propelled grenades. Efforts to recover the crews and aircraft turned into an hours-long urban battle with insurgents that left 18 Americans dead.

Disturbing video of militants dragging American corpses through the streets had a major political effect in the United States, serving as a cautionary tale against intervening in conflicts abroad.

Al-Shabaab Attacks Somali Police Station, Kills 12

 African Union peacekeeping forces in Beledweyne. The peacekeepers are in Somalia to help Somalis forces fight Al-Shabaab. (Photo: © Reuters)


This happened a couple of days ago but it is sinificant.  Al Shabaab continues to influence Somalia each and every week.

The story comes from The Clarion Project.

Al-Shabaab Attacks Somali Police Station, Kills 12


The Somalian terrorist group Al-Shabaab launched an attack on a police station killing at least 12. The station was also shared with African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia to helping the government fight the Al-Qaeda-linked group.

The attack began with a car-bomb which turned the station’s gate into a ball of fire. The terrorists then entered the station firing assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, according to witnesses. Ten members of the security forces and two civilians were killed, according to Somalian authorities.

Claiming responsibility for the attack, Al-Shabaab spokesman, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, said 18 members of the African peacekeeping force were killed along with 23 Somali police, numbers that were not confirmed.

The attack in Beledweyne, a commercial center located 200 miles north of the capital city Mogadishu and near the border with Ethiopia, follows a suicide attack last month by the Al-Shabaab at a café in the city which killed 16 people.

In response to the attack, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said, “Our enemies need to understand that these attacks do nothing to advance their cause, however misguided. We are making great progress while our enemies are on the back foot and reduced to sporadic and self-defeating attacks with no regard to life."

Al-Shabaab was also responsible for the September attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya in which 67 people were killed (including six soldiers) over the course of the four-day onslaught.

Al-Shabaab was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. in 2008. It seeks to overthrow Somalia’s elected government and institute Islamic (sharia) law in its place.

US drones kill 2 Shabaab operatives in southern Somalia

There's more than one way to skin a cat ....as they say.  And for Somalia's al Qaeda group, al-Shabaab, there's more than one way to pay for the attack on the mall in Kenya.

On Monday, two al-Shabaab jihadis saw their last glimpse of life as American hellfires descended upon them...fired from a drone high above.  I'd say "rest in peace" but it wouldn't be sincere and it certainly wouldn't be accurate.  Welcome to the Gates of Hell would be both more appropriate and more accurate.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

US drones kill 2 Shabaab operatives in southern Somalia


The US killed two Shabaab operatives, including a senior explosives expert, in a drone strike that targeted a vehicle in southern Somalia today.

The remotely piloted Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired three missiles at a car as it traveled in the town of Jilib, about 50 miles north of Kismayo, Voice of America reported.

One of the two Shabaab operatives killed was Anta Anta. He was described as "the mastermind of al Shabab's suicide missions," according to VOA. He was involved in a series of five coordinated suicide attacks in 2008 that targeted the presidential palace, a UN compound, the Ethiopian Consulate in Somaliland, and an intelligence headquarters in Puntland. The identity of the other slain Shabaab operative was not disclosed.

The drone strike in Jilib was likely launched from a US base in Arba Minch in Ethiopia. The existence of the base was revealed in 2011.

Although it formally joined al Qaeda in early 2012, Shabaab has been closely tied to the global jihadist group for many years. Top al Qaeda operatives, including several who were indicted for their roles in the 1998 bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, have served in senior leadership positions in Shabaab.

Second raid by US in Somalia this month

Today's drone strike is the second reported raid targeting a top Shabaab leader in the past month. On Oct. 5, US Navy SEALs attempted to capture Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, Shabaab's external operations chief, who is also known as Ikrima. Shabaab forces repelled the raid; the US Department of Defense said that US forces withdrew after concerns over the likelihood of civilian casualties.

Today's drone strike took place just one month after Shabaab forces launched a deadly, Mumbai-like raid on an upscale mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that resulted in the deaths of more than 65 civilians, including Europeans and Americans. Shabaab assault teams executed civilians and controlled the mall for 80 hours before explosions led to the collapse of a section of the four-story mall, which ended the siege.

Shabaab also repelled another raid by foreign special operations forces earlier this year. In January 2013, French commandos launched a failed raid in the town of Bula Marer to free a French intelligence official who had been captured by Shabaab in 2009. Shabaab fighters halted the attack and captured a French commando, who later died in custody. Shabaab released photographs of the captured soldier and weapons and gear seized during the raid, and then executed the French intelligence official.

US has targeted top Shabaab and al Qaeda leaders in Somalia before

The US has targeted top Shabaab leaders in drone and conventional airstrikes in the past. Bilal al Berjawi, a British national of Lebanese descent, was killed in an airstrike in January 2012. Al Berjawi was the senior deputy of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the leader of al Qaeda East Africa who also served as a top commander in Shabaab. Fazul was killed by Somali troops at a checkpoint outside Mogadishu in June 2011.

The US also killed Aden Hashi Ayro and Sheikh Muhyadin Omar in an airstrike in the spring of 2008. Before his death, Ayro was the leader of Shabaab.

Fazul and Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who also commanded al Qaeda East Africa, were also targeted, along with Abu Tala al Sudani, in US airstrikes in 2007 and 2008 during the Ethiopian invasion and occupation of southern Somalia. And Hassan Turki, another senior Shabaab leader who is closely tied to al Qaeda, was targeted in a US strike in 2008.

Nabhan was also the target of a US special forces raid in the Somali town of Barawe in 2009. US commandos killed Nabhan and another terrorist during the raid.

Al Shabaab Suicide Bomber Destroys Restaurant, 12 Somali Civilians and Soldiers Killed

From Times of India.

(file photo)

Somalia suicide attack kills at least 12: Police


MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a small but crowded restaurant in a city north of the capital Saturday, killing himself and at least 12 others, police said.

Mohamed Abdi, a senior Somali police official, said the attack in the city of Beledweyne, about 339 kilometres (210.65 miles) north of Mogadishu, also wounded at least 10 others. Many of those killed or wounded are civilians, he said, though some of the victims may also be government soldiers.

The attacker walked into the restaurant and took a seat among diners before setting off the explosives tied around his waist, one witness said.

"He sat among the diners, and then blew himself up there,'' Mohamed Ulusow, a Beledweyne resident said by phone.'' Pieces of human flesh were scattered there and the blast has largely ripped off the restaurant's roof.''

Somalia's president condemned the attack and blamed it on al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabaab.

"Their cowardly attack is aimed at stopping the social and economic developments of the people in the town," President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in a statement after the attack. "That attack is a sign that al-Shabaab were defeated in the battlefield and have nothing else to attack except the civilians."

Beledweyne is under the control of the central government and African Union peacekeepers from Djibouti are stationed there.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but al-Shabaab militants frequently stage such attacks on seats of power as well as restaurants and other public places that are popular with foreigners and government soldiers. Al-Shaabab, which seeks political control of Somalia, has said it wants all foreign peacekeepers to leave the country. That is the reason it has launched lethal attacks in East African countries such as Kenya and Uganda, which both have sent peacekeepers to support Somalia's central government.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a deadly attack last month on an upscale mall in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Al-Shaabab said the September 21 attack, in which scores were killed in a four-day siege of the Westgate shopping mall, was in retaliation for Kenya sending troops into Somalia to go after the extremists.

Kenya Refuses To Cave To Al Qaeda, Will NOT Pull Troops Out of Somalia

 Funerals continued on Friday for the victims on the third and final day of official mourning, with President Uhuru Kenyatta attending the service of his slain nephew.




From Times of India.

Kenya says no to Somalia pullout after al-Shabaab attack


NAIROBI: Kenya has vowed not to bow to al-Shabaab's threats of more attacks if troops are not pulled out of Somalia, following a devastating mall attack in Nairobi by the Al-Qaida-linked insurgents.

"We went to Somalia because al-Shabaab was a threat to national security ... We will continue to take action on that front until our security and interests in the country are protected," interior minister Joseph Ole Lenku told reporters on Friday.

Somalia's al-Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane said the Nairobi Westgate mall carnage in which at least 67 people were killed would be followed by "more bloodshed" unless Kenya left Somalia.

Kenya invaded southern Somalia to attack al-Shabaab bases two years ago, and later joined the 17,700-strong African Union force deployed in the country.

Funerals continued on Friday for the victims on the third and final day of official mourning, with President Uhuru Kenyatta attending the service of his slain nephew.

As well as scores of Kenyans, many of the dead were foreigners, including from Britain, Canada, China, France, the Netherlands, India, South Africa and South Korea.

Nigerian Nobel literature laureate Wole Soyinka and other writers paid tribute to renowned Ghanaian poet and statesman Kofi Awoonor who was among the dead.

"We denounce these enemies of humanity," Soyinka said, accompanied by several writers and authors at a press conference in Freedom Park in central Lagos, Nigeria's largest city.

Dozens more are unaccounted for, with 59 people still listed by the Red Cross as missing after the attack — one of the worst in Kenya's history.

The extremists on Friday gloated at the massacre, which saw a group of gunmen storm the part Israeli-owned complex at midday on Saturday, firing from the hip and hurling grenades at shoppers and staff, before holding off Kenyan and foreign forces with a barrage of bullets for four days.

"The mesmeric performance by the Westgate Warriors was undoubtedly gripping, but despair not folks that was just the premiere of Act 1," the group said in one of a string of messages posted on social media.

Since the unprecedented 80-hour siege ended late on Tuesday, al-Shabaab have claimed responsibility for an attack on Thursday on a police compound on the border with Somalia, killing two officers.

Attacks are common in Kenya's northeastern border with Somalia, with regular grenade blasts or shooting ever since Kenyan troops crossed into southern Somalia two years ago.

Close to 200 people were wounded in the four-day mall carnage in one of Nairobi's largest shopping centres, which was popular among wealthy Kenyans, diplomats, UN workers and other expatriates.

Police continued to scour the fire-blackened rubble in Westgate for bodies and clues, with Lenku insisting that contents of smashed shops would be protected from looters.

Kenya's parliamentary defence committee meanwhile ordered army, security and intelligence chiefs to answer questions about the handling of the siege next week.

Army fired bazooka rockets

Police have pleaded for patience as Kenyan and international teams — including from Britain, the United States, Israel, Germany, Canada and Interpol — painstakingly examine the mall.

With around a third of the building collapsed — as though hit by an earthquake — and with the risk of booby traps amongst the mangled wreckage, the work of international forensic and security experts will take days to complete.

Several members of the Kenyan forces involved in battle inside the mall said that the fire broke out on Monday after Kenyans fired at least two bazooka anti-tank rockets at the gunmen, who were holed up in the strong room of a supermarket.

"In the end we had to use full force, we had to finish with these guys," said one member of the elite force.

Top Interpol official Jean-Michel Louting, speaking near the mall, told AFP the challenge for investigators was to try "to remove the three levels that collapsed and see what is underneath".

Interpol issued an international arrest notice at Kenya's request for 29-year-old Samantha Lewthwaite, dubbed the 'White Widow', a reference to her marriage to one of the suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London's July 2005 terror attacks.

Nairobi accuses her of alleged links to al-Shabaab and the possession of explosives in a 2011 plot, and there has been widespread media speculation over her possible role in Nairobi's deadly siege, despite no concrete evidence so far.

Five suspected attackers were killed in the mall and eight other people detained, officials said. Three others have since been released without charge.

Kenya further sought to shrug off the threats with the government issuing a defiant statement to say plans to raise close to $1.5 billion (1.1 billion euros) in a debut international bond issue were unaffected.

"The Kenyan economy, just like the spirit of our people, is unshaken by the recent tragedy," treasury secretary Henry Rotich said in a statement.

Still the country remains traumatized.

Somalis living in Kenya are terrified of retaliatory attacks, against the half a million refugees as well as members of the native ethnic Somali community.

Al Shabaab Terrorists Attack United Nations Base In Somalia, 20 People Killed

Things have been relatively quiet in Somalia lately...until today when eight al Shabaab (al Qaeda affiliate) islamic terrorists stormed a United Nations base with assault rifles and suicide bomb vests and in the aftermath, there were 20 people dead as well as the eight jihadis.  There's at least four United Nations personnel listed as part of the dead.

But hey, just put that out of your mind....Barack Hussein Obama has assured us all that al Qaeda is on its heels.

Feel better?

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Shabaab suicide assault team storms UN compound in Mogadishu


A suicide assault team from Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, attacked a United Nations base in the capital of Somalia, killing several UN employees after briefly taking over the compound.

The suicide assault team, which was made up of eight fighters armed with assault rifles and suicide vests, struck at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) compound earlier today. The attack began as a suicide bomber detonated "a pickup truck rigged with explosives" at the main gate, according to a UN statement. The blast breached the perimeter of the compound, and allowed the seven other Shabaab fighters to enter the base.

African Union soldiers surrounded the UNDP base and engaged the Shabaab fighters, killing them all after nearly two hours of fighting.

Reports of casualties indicate that more than 20 people were killed in the fighting. Four "UNDP foreign staff, four Somali security guards," and seven "civilians" were killed, according to Garowe.

Shabaab claimed credit for the attack in a series of Tweets on its official Twitter site, HSMPRESS1.

Shabaab described the UN as "a merchant of death & a satanic force of evil," which "has a long inglorious record of spreading nothing but poverty, dependency & disbelief."

"Serving #US goals, the #UN is a monolithic block in the path towards the astablishment [sic] of Allah's Law on earth & must therefore be dislodged," Shabaab said.

Shabaab "intel teams" claimed to be among the dead are "16 #UN workers, including 3 #British, 2 #Kenyan and 1 #SouthAfrican," as well as 19 "UNDP security guards" and African Union troops.

"Some of the 'white Kuffar' [non-Muslims] who tried to engage the Mujahideen in combat inside the offices were killed and thrown out into the compound," the terror group stated.

Casualty counts for the attack have not been released by the UNDP, AMISOM, or the Somali government.

In the past, Shabaab has shown it can penetrate security at the heavily protected areas in the capital and carry out deadly attacks. AMISOM, Somali government and military officials, and nongovernmental organizations have been the target of Shabaab suicide assaults and bombings. In one such incident, in September of 2012, three suicide bombers attacked Somalia's president and Kenya's foreign minister as they were speaking at a hotel in Mogadishu.

Shabaab has also executed a suicide attack outside Somalia's borders: the July 11, 2010 double suicide attack in Kampala, Uganda, that killed 74 people. It was carried out by a suicide cell called the Saleh ali Nabhan Brigade, which is named after the al Qaeda leader who served as Shabaab's military commander before he was killed in a US special operations raid in September 2009.

Although Shabaab abandoned Mogadishu, Kismayo, and other large cities in Somalia after a combined African Union, Kenyan, Ethiopian, and Somali offensive, it still controls several major towns and cities along the coast between Kismayo and Mogadishu, including Jilib, Baraawe, and Merca, as well as other areas throughout the country.

Shabaab and its Kenyan branch, the Muslim Youth Center, formally joined al Qaeda in February 2012. The east African terror groups were closely tied to al Qaeda for years prior, however; Shabaab leaders had openly proclaimed their allegiance to al Qaeda long before the official merger.

Al Qaeda and its affiliates and allies have carried out numerous suicide assaults such as the one in Somalia today in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Algeria, Mali, and Niger.

America's LGBT Community Dead Silent As 18 Year Old Muslim Man In Somalia Is Stoned To Death For Being Gay

America's militant gays and lesbians haven't said a bloody word about an 18 year old gay Somali man being stoned to death because of his sexual preference ...know why?  Because America's militant gays and lesbians are buddies with America's Muslims...they are united here in the fight to destroy this country.  So don't hold your breath waiting for some gay activist in San Francisco to stand up and protest the death of this Somali man, it ain't gonna happen.  The same way America's feminists won't dare say a word about Muslim honor killings or Muslim female genital mutilation.

The story comes from LezGet Real via The Religion of Peace.

18-Year Old Stoned To Death In Somalia For Being Gay


An allegedly gay man Mohamed Ali Baashi was buried in the ground up to his chest and stoned to death on 15 March in Barawe some fifty miles form the Somali capital of Mogadishu. According to reports, Al-Qaeda linked Al Shabaab ordered the attack after charging and finding Baashi guilty of sodomy. Members of Al Shabaab stood behind the judges who passed sentence while wearing face masks and showing off their rifles.

Both Baashi and another man, who was also charged with murder, were found guilty after apparently admitting their crimes. The judge supposedly said “We investigated, and this man did what Muslims shouldn’t do and as a result, he will be stoned to death and the one that killed someone will be shot because homosexuality is more punishable in Islam.”

By investigated, the process likely involved torturing the individuals involved until they confessed, and then executing them. Such actions are typical for Al Shabaab, which has allegedly used Sharia law to execute anyone they wanted to even if they were not guilty of the crimes involved.

The scene, which has been described on Towleroad and The Advocate, is reminiscent of an exchange in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novel Small Gods in which Didactylos explains to Brutha that most people carrying out the sentence often do so out of fear of being the next person to be stoned to death. Unfortunately, there is no sure way to know if Baashi was or was not gay. He was 18 years old.

Al Shabaab Releases Photos of Captured French Special Ops Member Along With His Equipment and Weapons

Al Shabaab decided today to get even more into the face of the French government by releasing photos of the French commando wounded and captured during the recent rescue attempt by the French in Somalia.

There are also photos of the weapons and equipment of the commando - obviously, there needn't be proof that they have the commando, the French know that but this is the way for al Shabaab to gloat over the botched rescue attempt.

If I'm Hollande in France, I order another rescue attempt.  And then another.  But this time, it's about wiping every one of these asswipes out.  This commando is dead anyway, even if the ransom is paid.  Give this guy a chance of being freed and at the same time, show the likes of al Shabaab that gloating can be dangerous to your health.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Shabaab releases photos of French commando captured in failed rescue mission


Shabaab has released photographs of a French commando who was captured during a failed raid to free a hostage late last week. The French commando, who was initially reported as captured, died in Shabaab custody, the al Qaeda affiliate said. Shabaab also said it has "reached a unanimous verdict on the fate" of Denis Allex, the French intelligence operative who has been in custody since the summer of 2009, but has not disclosed what will be done with him.

French commandos attempted to free Allex, who they believed was being held at a safe house in Bula-Marer, a town under Shabaab control. Two French commandos and 17 Shabaab fighters are reported to have been killed; Shabaab has claimed that only two of its fighters and numerous civilians were killed during the the French operations.

Shabaab released three photographs of the commando as well as a photograph of captured weapons along with an official statement on its Twitter site, @HSMPress (Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen Press Office). The terror group claimed the Frenchman pictured was the "the French commander leading the operation." The rank of the commando who was captured has not been confirmed by French officials.

"The commander was deserted by his comrades after a fierce firefight and subsequently captured by the Mujahideen," Shabaab stated. "HSM paramedic teams arrived at the scene shortly after the firefight had ended and transferred him to a hospital at the base, but he succumbed to his injuries hours later."

One photograph shows the French commando placed on a tarpaulin, surrounded by gear, including weapons, magazines, body armor, a helmet with night vision goggles, and other equipment [pictured above]. Another photograph shows silenced submachineguns and and a silenced pistol, magazines, and what appears to be a map of the area where the commandos conducted their mission. On Twitter, Shabaab described the seized equipment as "Ghaneema," or prizes captured during war.

Shabaab also claimed it "managed to retrieve valuable information from the soldier before his death," but did not specify what information was obtained.

One of the photos zooms in on the commando's face and upper body to show a cross around his neck, while the accompanying tweet likened the soldier to a crusader.

"A return of the crusades, but the cross could not save him from the sword," Shabaab tweeted.

Shabaab also taunts the French on its Twitter page, asking the country's president if the raid was "worth it."

"François Hollande, was it worth it?," another tweet stated.

In its press release accompanying the photos, Sahaab also stated that it "reached a unanimous verdict on the fate" of Denis Allex "after three and a half years in captivity."

"The details of that verdict and some background information of the events leading up to the failed rescue operation will be published in the coming hours Insha'allah [Allah willing],"

Although the French government has claimed that Allex died during the raid, Shabaab claimed that he was not at the compound that was raided. According to a report at Shabelle, Shabaab was tipped off after the French force landed via helicopter at the nearby town of Daaydoog for the assault on the safe house in nearby Bula-Marer that was suspected of holding Allex.

In addition to the commando who was captured and subsequently died in custody, the French military said that one other soldier was killed during the raid. It is unclear if the soldier's body was evacuated, but his weapon does appear to have been left behind during the raid, as Shabaab shows two submachineguns in one of the photographs.

Allex and Marc Aubriere, two French intelligence agents, were captured in July 2009 at a hotel in Mogadishu. Both men were posing as journalists and trainers for the Somali military. Aubriere escaped under mysterious circumstances and it is rumored the French government paid a ransom for his release.

France launched the rescue mission to free Allex as it was feared the hostage would be executed by Shabaab in retaliation for the French intervention in Mali. French forces have launched airstrikes against al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa after the three al Qaeda-linked groups advanced southward to take control of Bamako, the capital. The three militant Islamist groups have controlled northern Mali since the spring of 2012.

Shabaab kills, captures French soldiers during failed rescue mission in Somalia

The French are reeling today from a failed attempt to rescue a captured intelligence operative being held by al Shabaab in Somalia - in that attempt, one French special ops commando was killed, one was injured and captured and it is felt that the original captured intelligence contact was killed as well.

The French sent in five helicopters full of special ops commandos to attempt the rescue and although they say 17 al Shabaab were killed, this is really a disaster.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Shabaab kills, captures French soldiers during failed rescue mission in Somalia


Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, killed one French commando and captured another during a failed French attempt to rescue Denis Allex, an intelligence operative who has been in the terror group's custody since 2009.

Allex and Marc Aubriere, two DGSE agents, were captured in July 2009 at a hotel in Mogadishu. Both men were posing as journalists and trainers for the Somali military. Aubriere escaped under mysterious circumstances and it is rumored the French government paid a ransom for his release.

Today the French Defense Ministry confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed and another was captured, and that 17 Shabaab fighters were killed during the early morning raid, France24 reported. French officials said they now believe that Allex is dead, but would not provide further details of the raid. The raid was carried out by the General Directorate for External Security (DGSE), the Defense Ministry's external intelligence and paramilitary force.

Shabaab denied reports that Allex was killed in the raid, in an official statement released on its Twitter site, @HSMPress (Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujahideen Press Office). The statement also provided additional details on the raid and confirmed that Shabaab captured a French soldier.

"At around 0200 hours Saturday morning five French helicopters attacked a location in the town of Bula-Marer, around 30 km South of Marka in the Islamic Administration of Lower Shabeelle, in a botched rescue attempt aimed at releasing the French hostage Dennis Allex," Shabaab said.

Shabaab said the fighting "lasted for about 45 minutes" and that their forces "managed to repel the French forces," killing several and capturing one after he was wounded. Shabaab denied that Allex was at the house where the raid took place, and said the French forces targeted the wrong location in what it described as "a fatal intelligence blunder."

"Several French soldiers were killed in the battle and many more were injured before they fled from the scene of battle, leaving behind some military paraphernalia and even one of their comrades on the ground," the statement continued. "The injured French soldier is now in the custody of the Mujahideen and Allex still remains safe and far from the location of the battle."

Shabaab said it has warned the French in the past not to attempt to rescue Allex, and then issued an ominous statement that indicated the group may execute him.

"As a response to this botched rescue operation by the French forces, Harakat Al-Shabaab Al-Mujahideen assures the French people that it will give its final verdict regarding the fate of Dennis Allex within two days," the statement concluded.

Rescue attempt coincides with French intervention in Mali

France's failed rescue mission in Somalia took place just one day after President François Hollande announced that the military would intervene in Mali as three al Qaeda-linked jihadist groups are advancing southward. French forces launched an airstrike in central Mali yesterday, and European soldiers were seen disembarking from an airplane in Sevare, near the city of Mopti. French citizens have been advised to leave Mali.

The rescue mission in Somalia was attempted as France feared Shabaab would execute Allex due to the French intervention in Mali.

2 Somali Islamists arrested in suspected pipe bomb attack at Bonn train station

 Bonn Police inspect a bag that is thought to have contained explosive materials. Photograph from ETA.

Has anyone noticed that when Somalis leave their country, which is the biggest cesspool of a country on Earth, they are insistent in making their NEW country the next biggest cesspool on Earth?

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

2 Somali Islamists arrested in suspected pipe bomb attack at Bonn train station


At around noon yesterday in Bonn, Germany, employees at the city's central train station were alerted to the presence of a suspicious-looking piece of luggage on Platform 1 that turned out to contain potentially explosive materials. Within hours, police had arrested two Somali men who had been seen near where the bag was found.

Der Spiegel reports that the first suspect, Omar D., was arrested at an Internet cafe, and the second, Abdirazak B. was arrested near a bridge on the Rhine. According to the ICSR Insight website, Abdirizak was identified from video footage of the attempted bombing at the station.

The suspect bag, which was opened by a robot, was found to contain butane gas, ammonium nitrate, metal pipe, an alarm clock, batteries, and also metal containers filled with some sort of white powder. According to The Local, authorities detonated the apparent pipe bomb with a water cannon. The Bonn train station remained closed until late Monday evening, significantly disrupting travel throughout the area.

Both men are well-known Islamic extremists who had been previously detained in 2008 at the Cologne/Bonn airport while boarding a flight for Amsterdam. Although at the time authorities suspected the pair were planning to travel via Uganda to Somalia or Pakistan to join an al Qaeda-linked group, they were released shortly afterward and no charges were brought, ICSR reports.

ICSR also cites Yassin Musharbash of Die Zeit as stating that the two Somali men arrested yesterday have been under police surveillance along with about 20-25 other local extremists.

ICSR notes that "Bonn has been a centre of the German Salafist scene for many years," and that al Qaeda operatives Bekkay Harrach, Mounir Chouka, and Yassin Chouka are all from Bonn. Harrach, who joined al Qaeda in 2007, was killed while fighting in Afghanistan in January 2011 [see LWJ report, Senior German al Qaeda leader killed in Afghanistan]. The Chouka brothers, who fight with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and are thought to be currently based in Pakistan's tribal areas, were added to the US's terrorist list in January 2012 [see LWJ report, Wanted IMU leader urges attacks in Germany].

In 2003, a Bonn mosque and school founded by Wahhabists from Saudi Arabia made headlines when parents protested the government's attempt to close the school, which was suspected of promoting extremism. According to TIME, 10 or 15 people associated with the mosque were under surveillance, and some of the attendees had al Qaeda links.

More recently, in May this year, rioting broke out in Bonn and other German cities when Salafists protested caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad carried by a right-wing German group at a demonstration. In the ensuing clash between the Salafists and police in Bonn, 29 policemen were wounded; two of them had been stabbed.

Muslims In Somalia Behead Muslim Who Converted To Christianity, Then His Body Is Split In Two

I'm getting the impression that the al Qaeda linked group in Somalia, al Shabaab, isn't too fond of any Muslim in the area converting over to Christianity.

The story comes from WND Faith via The Religion of Peace.

Christian convert from Islam beheaded


'His body was split into two, then carried away, only to be dumped near the beach'

(Morningstar News) NAIROBI, Kenya – Islamic extremists from Somalia’s rebel Al-Shabaab militants on Friday (Nov. 16) killed a Christian in Somalia’s coastal city of Barawa, accusing him of being a spy and leaving Islam, Christian and Muslim witnesses said.

The extremists beheaded 25-year-old Farhan Haji Mose after monitoring his movements for six months, Christian sources said. Mose drew suspicion when he returned to Barawa, in Somalia’s Lower Shebelle Region, in December 2011 after spending time in Kenya, underground Christians in Somalia told Morning Star News.

Al Shabaab Strikes Mogadishu With Double Suicide Bomb Attack, 15 Dead

I was just listening to an Army Ranger who had served over in Somalia back in the days of "Black Hawk Down" and it hit me just how long ago that was...and yet today, Somalia isn't much different as the Muslims of that country continue to spiral it into a daily killing field.

The most recent carnage is a typical al Qaeda operation where the local affiliate in Somalia, al Shabaab, conducted a twin suicide bombing on a restaurant in Mogadishu wiped out 15 people including some foreign journalists who, more than likely, were the actual targets.

The story comes from The Long War Journal.

Suicide bombers kill 15 in Mogadishu


Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in East Africa, executed a double suicide attack in a secured area in the Somali capital of Mogadishu today. According to Al Jazeera, at least 15 people have been killed and the death toll may rise. From Shabelle:

Witnesses said two suicide bomb attacks at a restaurant killed on Thursday afternoon at least 10 people, among 3 Somali journalists and wounded twenty people.

Shabelle Media journalist Ahmed Abdi Hassan at the scene says two suicide bombers blew themselves up at Village restaurant opposite to the Somalia's national theatre.

The attacks also killed Liiban Ali Nur, Abdisatar Dahir, working with state-run Radio Mogadishu and TV and Abdirahman Yasin, director of voice of democracy (VOD), a local independent FM station.

Witnesses said the bombers detonated at the popular Village café, where journalists and some government officials had gathered to drink tea, a spot also close to the state house located in the heart of Mogadishu.

Despite last summer's offensive that ended Shabaab's overt control of the capital, Shabaab has continued to conduct suicide bombings, IED attacks, and assassinations in Mogadishu.

Shabaab carried out a suicide attack across the street from the Village restaurant, at the national theatre, on April 14. In that attack, a female suicide bomber targeted an event that was attended by senior Somali officials, including Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali. More than 30 people were wounded, including four members of parliament and two Somali reporters.

One month earlier, on March 14, a Shabaab suicide bomber killed five people in a bombing inside the presidential palace compound in the Somali capital.

Absolutely Unheard Of....4 People Murdered In North Dakota By One Attacker....Oh Wait, It Was a Somali Attacker....Nevermind

Can you imagine?  In all of 2010, in the state of North Dakota, there were a TOTAL of 10 murders in the ENTIRE state and now, in 2012, one attacker has killed four people at one slaying.  How can that be possible in this state?  Oh wait, you don't suppose.....

A Somali man charged in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old woman in northwest North Dakota is now accused of killing her mother, brother and the mother's boyfriend, who were found dead the same day in mobile home across town.

Omar Mohamed Kalmio, 27, who has a history of violent crime, was charged with murder several months after his infant daughter's mother, Sabrina Zephier, was found dead at her home in Minot in January 2011. The baby was found in the home unharmed.

Court documents show prosecutors filed additional murder charges Friday, alleging Kalmio also was the gunman who killed 13-year-old Dylan Zephier, 38-year-old Jolene Zephier, and Jolene's 22-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Longie.

There you have it - bring the Somali Muslim immigrants to the state of North Dakota and this is what you get. I've said it before, once the killing gets in your blood, it stays there - this is how Muslims from other parts of the world deal with their issues - the problem is that America doesn't see it as normal and thus, whose view of what is right and what is wrong will win out?

The story comes from ABC News via The Religion of Peace.

Somali Man Charged With 4 Murders in North Dakota


A Somali man charged in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old woman in northwest North Dakota is now accused of killing her mother, brother and the mother's boyfriend, who were found dead the same day in mobile home across town.

Omar Mohamed Kalmio, 27, who has a history of violent crime, was charged with murder several months after his infant daughter's mother, Sabrina Zephier, was found dead at her home in Minot in January 2011. The baby was found in the home unharmed.

Court documents show prosecutors filed additional murder charges Friday, alleging Kalmio also was the gunman who killed 13-year-old Dylan Zephier, 38-year-old Jolene Zephier, and Jolene's 22-year-old boyfriend, Jeremy Longie.

Multiple slayings are virtually unheard of in North Dakota, which had 10 murders and non-negligent homicides in all of 2010, according to data compiled by the FBI.

Ward County State's Attorney Roza Larson declined to comment on specifics of the case Wednesday, but she cited the ongoing work by Minot police and the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Police also declined comment.

"They have been working this case since the murders occurred and they have been putting in a lot of tireless hours," she said. "A lot of times when things take a while, people have the perception that investigators aren't doing anything. They truly have been doing a lot."

Kalmio, who has pleaded not guilty in Sabrina Zephier's death, is being held without bond. His trial was scheduled to begin June 4, but was cancelled when the new charges were filed. His court-appointed attorney couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday; a recorded phone message said his mailbox was full.

Kalmio was arrested last August at the Grand Forks County jail, where he had been held since February 2011 on an unrelated charge. Police have said that last summer's devastating flooding in Minot may have delayed his arrest, because police had to divert their efforts elsewhere.

The Somali national has said he was in the U.S. under political asylum. He's scheduled for a preliminary hearing June 19, and Larson said she expects the case to go to trial.

Sabrina Zephier's body was found in an apartment on Jan. 28, 2011, the same day the bodies of the other three were found in a nearby mobile home. They all had been shot.

The Zephiers were members of South Dakota's Yankton Sioux Tribe.

Police contend in court documents that a witness claimed Kalmio and Zephier argued days before she was found dead, and Kalmio's co-workers at an oil rig site near Williston claimed Kalmio had made statements about Zephier purposely getting pregnant and ruining his life. Kalmio also allegedly described injuries to Zephier that had not been publicly disclosed, authorities said.

Kalmio was convicted in 2006 of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and sentenced to about a year in prison. He and a group of other Somali men were accused of attacking a man in Minneapolis in January 2006, and Kalmio stabbed him three times in the back with a knife. Kalmio also was convicted of theft in 2006, and ordered to pay a fine.

Ethiopian and Somali Troops Advancing Through Somalia, Al Shabaab Is Running Like Chickens

Finally. We finally see some cohesion between Somali military troops and the forces from Ethiopia that are in Somalia and their advance from the west is causing al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-linked islamic terror group, to give up cities and ground in front of that advance.

From the article at The Long War Journal:

As Ethiopian forces continue to press their offensive in Somalia, Shabaab forces have relinquished control of a key southern city that has been under the terror group's control for three years.

Fighters from Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in eastern Africa, today abandoned Baidoa, the provincial capital of Bay, as large numbers of Ethiopian troops backed by Somali forces advanced on the city from the west. Shabaab is also reported to have withdrawn from Bardere, which is southwest of Baidoa. A Shabaab spokesman confirmed that Shabaab withdrew from Baidoa but claimed the terror group would fight to retake it.

"Our fighters left town this morning without fighting. Now we are surrounding the town," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters. "Baidoa will be a cemetery for the Ethiopians."

Shabaab seized Baidoa in January 2009 after Ethiopian troops withdrew from the country. One month later, Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's emir, praised Shabaab for taking control of Baidoa. Prior to their withdrawal, Ethiopian forces had occupied much of southern and central Somalia after ousting the Islamic Courts Union from power in early 2007. And Baidoa had served as the capital of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, from 2006 until the Shabaab takeover in January 2009.

This could get mighty interesting if the Ethiopian troops continue to push forward and we end up with al Shabaab butted up against the coast of Somalia. The question is...does al Qaeda or the rest of the jihadi world have a back up plan to help out their asswipe brethren in Somalia?

Hopefully, al Shabaab will be pushed into the sea and we can all sit back with our popcorn and sodas and watch the sharks feast on them all.

Shabaab abandons western city as Ethiopian troops advance


As Ethiopian forces continue to press their offensive in Somalia, Shabaab forces have relinquished control of a key southern city that has been under the terror group's control for three years.

Fighters from Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in eastern Africa, today abandoned Baidoa, the provincial capital of Bay, as large numbers of Ethiopian troops backed by Somali forces advanced on the city from the west. Shabaab is also reported to have withdrawn from Bardere, which is southwest of Baidoa. A Shabaab spokesman confirmed that Shabaab withdrew from Baidoa but claimed the terror group would fight to retake it.

"Our fighters left town this morning without fighting. Now we are surrounding the town," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters. "Baidoa will be a cemetery for the Ethiopians."

Shabaab seized Baidoa in January 2009 after Ethiopian troops withdrew from the country. One month later, Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's emir, praised Shabaab for taking control of Baidoa. Prior to their withdrawal, Ethiopian forces had occupied much of southern and central Somalia after ousting the Islamic Courts Union from power in early 2007. And Baidoa had served as the capital of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, from 2006 until the Shabaab takeover in January 2009.

The recent loss of Baidoa has put Shabaab on the defensive. The terror group is being pressed by African Union and Ethiopian forces on three fronts. In addition to Ethiopia's advance from the west, Burundian and Ugandan forces have taken control of Mogadishu after Shabaab abandoned much of the city last summer, and are slowly pressing westward to Afgoye, a Shabaab stronghold just 15 miles outside of the capital.

In the south, Kenyan forces are slowly moving northward toward the Shabaab strongholds of Afmadow and the port city of Kismayo. Kenyan troops have been fighting in Somalia since mid-October, and have only advanced to about 40 miles inside the country.

Shabaab still controls other major towns and cities along the coast between Kismayo and Mogadishu, including Jilib, Baraawe, and Merca. Shabaab recently held parades and celebrations in many of these towns after announcing its official merger with al Qaeda on Feb. 9. One day later, Shabaab's affiliate in Kenya, the Muslim Youth Center, also said it has become "part of al Qaeda East Africa."

Despite Shabaab's recent setbacks in Somalia, US intelligence officials who follow the terror group closely said that even if it loses many of the cities and towns it currently controls, the group still will remain a threat and will be capable of retaking lost ground after the African Union forces leave.

"Shabaab has been in this situation before when it was part of the Islamic Courts back in 2007 up until when the group fractured in 2009," one official told The Long War Journal. "As soon as Ethiopian troops left, the TFG [Somalia's Transitional Federal Government] couldn't hold its ground."

The officials cited a lack of unity among Somali factions, corruption, poorly trained security forces, and sympathetic elements within the government as reasons to be pessimistic about the government's chances to hold the ground seized by the foreign forces. One official also said that Shabaab has staying power and is committed to the cause of jihad at all costs.

"Ultimately Shabaab is committed to its cause, and it won't give up easily," the official said. "To them, these setbacks are temporary. They'll switch from an active insurgency to a guerrilla campaign of terror attacks and assassinations when they need to, and they'll ride out the 'Christian occupiers' to take on the weak government," the official said, referring to Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti, whose troops have been battling Shabaab.

Somali Islamic Extremists Once Again Behead a Convert To Christianity

The righteous Islamists of Somalia have once again meted out the civility and "love" of Mohammed as they have once again murdered a Somali man who had converted to Christianity - for effect, they beheaded the convert as well.

The article comes from Christian News Today.

Islamic Extremists Behead Another Convert in Somalia


Young Christian man murdered outside Mogadishu.


By Simba Tian

NAIROBI, Kenya – Islamic extremists from the rebel al Shabaab militia in Somalia beheaded a Christian on the outskirts of Mogadishu last month, sources said.

The militants fighting the transitional government in Mogadishu murdered Zakaria Hussein Omar, 26, on Jan. 2 in Cee-carfiid village, about 15 kilometers (nine miles) outside of the Somali capital, they said. Omar had worked for a Christian humanitarian organization that al Shabaab banned last year.

His body was left lying for 20 hours before nomads found it and carried it into Mogadishu, a close friend said.

“We have been communicating with Omar, and he was sharing with me his life as a Christian,” the friend said. “Last year he mentioned to me that his life was in danger when the NGO [Non-Governmental Organization] he worked for was banned by the al Shabaab.”

The friend said he identified the body.

“One of the persons who saw him said, ‘This is the young man who stayed in Ethiopia, and people have been saying that he left Islam and joined Christianity.’”

Omar converted to Christianity seven years ago while in Ethiopia, where he lived with relatives. He returned to Somalia in 2008 and completed his university education in 2009 with a degree in accounting.

Omar had married in the latter part of 2010. He is survived by his wife, his parents (originally from central Somalia), a brother and four sisters.

Last September, the militants beheaded another young Christian near Mogadishu. The militants, who have vowed to rid Somalia of Christianity, killed Guled Jama Muktar on Sept. 25 in his home near Deynile, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Mogadishu (See www.compassdirect.org, “Islamic Extremists in Somalia Behead 17-year-old Christian,” Oct. 19, 2011).

Earlier that month, a kidnapped Christian convert from Islam was found decapitated on the outskirts of Hudur City in Bakool region, in southwestern Somalia. Juma Nuradin Kamil was forced into a car by three suspected Islamic extremists from the al Shabaab terrorist group on Aug. 21, 2011 and murdered on Sept. 2, area sources said (See www.compassdirect.org, “Somali Convert to Christianity Kidnapped, Beheaded,” Sept. 12, 2011).

With estimates of al Shabaab’s size ranging from 3,000 to 7,000, the insurgents seek to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law), but the transitional government in Mogadishu fighting to retain control of the country treats Christians little better than the al Shabaab extremists do. While proclaiming himself a moderate, President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has embraced a version of sharia that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam.

Al Shabaab was among several splinter groups that emerged after Ethiopian forces removed the Islamic Courts Union, a group of sharia courts, from power in Somalia in 2006. It has been designated a terrorist organization by several western governments.

Al-Shabaab Suicide Bomber Attacks Mogadishu Hotel, Kills 9 Somalis

The hell hole that we call Somalia continues to earn that name and description as today, a suicide bomber from the islamic terror group al Shabaab struck at a hotel in Mogadishu and ended up killing nine Somalis.

From the report at The Long War Journal:

A Shabaab suicide bomber killed nine Somalis today in an attack outside a hotel in Mogadishu. From Reuters:

A suicide car bomber killed at least nine people Wednesday near a hotel where lawmakers often gather in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said.

Police officer Hassan Ali told Reuters the attacker rammed his vehicle into a cafe by the Hotel Muna, which was also stormed by al Shabaab militants in August 2010 in an attack that killed more than 30 people.

"So far we have carried nine dead civilians and 34 others injured. Up to now we have not seen casualties of any legislators. The death toll may rise," said Ali.

Police and the spokesman for African Union troops in Somalia said initial reports showed that the attacker first opened fire on people sitting near the hotel before detonating the car.

The Aug. 24, 2010 suicide assault on the Hotel Muna was a particularly brazen effort by Shabaab, and was one of several in which Shabaab used a complex attack to target Somali officials. Shabaab has emulated the tactics of other al Qaeda affiliates and allies, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in Iraq, and the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.

Somalia has become one of those countries where you literally can't tell the good guys from the bad guys - a bit like Libya was recently ....the difference is that there is no redeeming thing about Somalia. This country is dirt poor, it's a sanitation nightmare, there's no food and as we see, the landscape is teeming with islamic jihadis. I'm not sure the people of Somalia have any clue as to who to support in the fight for Somalia.

Suicide bomber kills 9 in Mogadishu


A Shabaab suicide bomber killed nine Somalis today in an attack outside a hotel in Mogadishu. From Reuters:

A suicide car bomber killed at least nine people Wednesday near a hotel where lawmakers often gather in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said.

Police officer Hassan Ali told Reuters the attacker rammed his vehicle into a cafe by the Hotel Muna, which was also stormed by al Shabaab militants in August 2010 in an attack that killed more than 30 people.

"So far we have carried nine dead civilians and 34 others injured. Up to now we have not seen casualties of any legislators. The death toll may rise," said Ali.

Police and the spokesman for African Union troops in Somalia said initial reports showed that the attacker first opened fire on people sitting near the hotel before detonating the car.

The Aug. 24, 2010 suicide assault on the Hotel Muna was a particularly brazen effort by Shabaab, and was one of several in which Shabaab used a complex attack to target Somali officials. Shabaab has emulated the tactics of other al Qaeda affiliates and allies, including al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in Iraq, and the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.

Shabaab has carried out more than 30 major suicide attacks in Somalia since September 2006, when its predecessor, the Islamic Courts Union, usurped control of the government (the Islamic Courts was ousted from power in an invasion by Ethiopian forces in December 2006). Several of the attacks have been carried out by American and British citizens who had left their home countries to join Shabaab.

Shabaab has also executed one suicide attack outside Somalia. A double suicide bombing on July 11, 2010 in Kampala, Uganda, killed 74 people. The suicide cell that carried out the attack, the Saleh ali Nabhan Brigade, is named after the al Qaeda leader who served as Shabaab's military commander before he was killed in a US special operations raid in September 2009.

U.S. Navy SEALs Rescue 2 Aid Workers From Somalia, 9 Somali Pirates Killed In Helicopter Operation

Whoa! A daring rescue of two aid workers who had been captured in Somalia by Somalian pirates - one worker being American and the other Danish was performed successfully last night by U.S. Navy SEALs in Somalia - both hostages are fine, all SEALs are okay, nine Somali pirates appear to have "Heckler and Koch syndrome."

From the report at the L.A. Times:

U.S. military forces carried out a dramatic helicopter rescue overnight in Somalia, freeing two Western aid workers taken hostage by pirates.

Jessica Buchanan, a 32-year-old American, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60-year-old Dane, both from the Danish Demining Group had been kidnapped in October in the central Somali town of Galkayo, which until then had been considered relatively safe for Westerners.

Early Wednesday, the Danish Refugee Council, of which the demining group is a part of, confirmed the successful rescue operation of the two aid workers.

The overnight raid was carried out by U.S. military hellicopters and Navy seals operating out of an American base in the tiny east African nation of Djibouti. After the mission, they returned to the Djibouti base with the two.

Witnesses reported a gun battle that left several pirates dead, according to news agencies. Both hostages were unharmed in the rescue.

The AP reported that Bilal Hussein, a pirate, said he had been informed by other at the scene that nine pirates has been killed.

Let's face it, a rescue attempt in Somalia is enough to get anyone's stomach in a pit but it appears that this operation went down like clockwork - I'm sure the Somali pirates had no idea what hit them until it was far too late.

One thing I'd like to throw out here to Rep. Ron Paul...under your direction, our SEALs would have been stationed in Virginia or California - perhaps you can describe at the next debate Congressman Paul just how this operation would have been pulled off by our SEALs traveling from California as opposed to the strategic small base in Djibouti.

Once again, America is extremely proud of our fighting men and women!

U.S. helicopter raid frees two aid workers from Somali pirates


Jessica Buchanan, a 32-year-old American, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60-year-old Dane, both from the Danish Demining Group had been kidnapped in October in the central Somali town of Galkayo, which until then had been considered relatively safe for Westerners.

Early Wednesday, the Danish Refugee Council, of which the demining group is a part of, confirmed the successful rescue operation of the two aid workers.

The overnight raid was carried out by U.S. military hellicopters and Navy seals operating out of an American base in the tiny east African nation of Djibouti. After the mission, they returned to the Djibouti base with the two.

President Barack Obama appeared to refer to the mission just before the State of the Union address when he looked at Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, and said "Good job tonight."

The October kidnapping was one of a series of kidnappings of Westerners by Somali pirates in a bid to extort high ransoms. Several kidnappings occured late last year in Kenya, Somalia's southern neighbor, triggering a Kenyan invasion in a bid to restore a stable government, which continues to this day.

Western diplomats and aid workers have been using Galkayo as a base or entry point into Somalia, with diplomatic activity on the rise since the radical Islamic rebel group Al Shabab abandoned the capital Mogadishu and retreated to its southern stronghold.

Witnesses reported a gun battle that left several pirates dead, according to news agencies. Both hostages were unharmed in the rescue.

The AP reported that Bilal Hussein, a pirate, said he had been informed by other at the scene that nine pirates has been killed.

A second pirate, Ahmed Hashi, said two helicopters attacked at about 2 a.m. the pirate compound about 12 miles north of the Somali town of Adow.

Underscoring the growing dangers of operating from Galkayo, an American engineer was kidnapped there Saturday. Many other hostages remain in Somalia, including a British tourist, several other aid workers, shipping crews and others.

Al Shabaab Suicide Bomber Hits Ethiopian Troop Compound, Claim 33 Killed

The number of dead Ethiopian soldiers has not been verified and the scum at Al Shabaab have never told the truth in their lives but from all accounts it appears that today's suicide bomb attack on an Ethiopian military compound in western Somalia by an al Qaeda-linked jihadi was real bad. Al Shabaab is claiming they killed 33 Ethiopian troops so it's probably more like 7 or 8 but we'll have to see what Ethiopia has to say.

From The Long War Journal:

A Shabaab suicide bomber attacked an Ethiopian military compound in western Somalia today, killing an unknown number of troops. Shabaab claimed credit for the attack.

The attack took place in the city of Beledweyne near the border of Ethiopia. Shabaab said the suicide bomber from the "Martyrdom Brigade" targeted "a building known as the Regional Headquarters which housed the Ethiopian army," and claimed more than 200 Ethiopian troops and their officers were stationed there, according to a statement provided by the SITE Intelligence Group.

A local security official told the BBC that Ethiopian soldiers shot and killed the suicide bomber at the gate of the compound. The blast was sufficiently large enough to cause most of the building to collapse, however.

Ethiopian officials have not disclosed the number of casualties. African countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Burundi, which have forces in Somalia, often underreport their casualties.

Shabaab claimed that "33 Ethiopian soldiers, including 4 senior commanders" were killed "and up to 72 injured and the number is steadily increasing." The figures provided by Shabaab could not be confirmed, and the terror group is known to exaggerate the results of its operations.

Shabaab said that today's suicide attack "is part of the new strategy adopted by the Mujahideen as a bold response to the increasingly hostile enemies that have invaded Somalia." Shabaab withdrew from Beledweyne weeks ago after Ethiopian forces reentered Somalia in force. Shabaab has also withdrawn from most of the capital of Mogadishu after African Union forces went on the offensive last summer. Shabaab has launched suicide attacks, and conducted ambushes and assassinations in the capital.

I certainly don't have to reiterate here what a bloody mess Somalia is right now but we have to keep in mind that there are fighting forces from damn near all of Africa right now in the country trying to stave off the Muslim rebel group there - it's gotta be a cluster of all clusters right now.

But we can see how al Shabaab is going to try and create unrest back in the other countries with these kinds of terror attacks - you gotta bet there will be Ethiopians now calling for the withdrawal of all troops from Somalia....course that just means al Shabaab will be crossing their own border sooner than if they keep fighting them in Somalia.

Shabaab suicide bomber targets Ethiopian troops


A Shabaab suicide bomber attacked an Ethiopian military compound in western Somalia today, killing an unknown number of troops. Shabaab claimed credit for the attack.

The attack took place in the city of Beledweyne near the border of Ethiopia. Shabaab said the suicide bomber from the "Martyrdom Brigade" targeted "a building known as the Regional Headquarters which housed the Ethiopian army," and claimed more than 200 Ethiopian troops and their officers were stationed there, according to a statement provided by the SITE Intelligence Group.

A local security official told the BBC that Ethiopian soldiers shot and killed the suicide bomber at the gate of the compound. The blast was sufficiently large enough to cause most of the building to collapse, however.

Ethiopian officials have not disclosed the number of casualties. African countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Burundi, which have forces in Somalia, often underreport their casualties.

Shabaab claimed that "33 Ethiopian soldiers, including 4 senior commanders" were killed "and up to 72 injured and the number is steadily increasing." The figures provided by Shabaab could not be confirmed, and the terror group is known to exaggerate the results of its operations.

Shabaab said that today's suicide attack "is part of the new strategy adopted by the Mujahideen as a bold response to the increasingly hostile enemies that have invaded Somalia." Shabaab withdrew from Beledweyne weeks ago after Ethiopian forces reentered Somalia in force. Shabaab has also withdrawn from most of the capital of Mogadishu after African Union forces went on the offensive last summer. Shabaab has launched suicide attacks, and conducted ambushes and assassinations in the capital.

Today's suicide attack in Somalia is the second in the war-torn country in the past week. On Jan. 19, a suicide bomber killed six people at a refugee camp in Mogadishu.

Shabaab, which has close ties to al Qaeda and serves as its affiliate in East Africa, and its predecessor, the Islamic Courts Union, have carried out more than 30 suicide attacks in Somalia since they sought to control the country in 2006. At least two of those suicide attacks were carried out by American citizens.

The US has been targeting senior al Qaeda and Shabaab leaders in drone strikes and special operations raids. Just last weekend, US drones killed Bilal al Berjawi, a senior al Qaeda leader who also served as a top commander for Shabaab, in a strike near Mogadishu.

African Union forces have launched offensives against Shabaab on three fronts over the past year, but Shabaab still holds much of central and southern Somalia [see map from BBC]. Ugandan and Burundian troops control of much of Mogadishu after battling Shabaab forces starting last summer. In the fall, Kenyan troops invaded southern Somalia, and took over some border areas. Later in 2011, Ethiopian troops entered Somalia and seized Beledweyne and the surrounding areas.

British Al Shabaab Operative Killed in Somalia By U.S. Predator Drone Strike

One of Britain's Muslim terrorist exports, a long time member of al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, was snuffed out yesterday when a hellfire from an American drone turned him inside out - the strike just goes to prove that the export of islamic terror from Europe knows no geographic bounds. We have seen European Muslims fighting for the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we have seen European jihadis in Somalia and Yemen.

From the report at The Long War Journal:

Shabaab said that a British national and who was " from the early people who came to jihad in Somalia" was killed in a US drone airstrike. The slain operative was a senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa.

The British citizen, who was identified as Bilal al Berqawi, was "of a Lebanese origin," according to a statement released today by Shabaab's media arm, Al Kata'ib Foundation for Media Production. The statement, which was published on jihadist forums, was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Berqawi "was second-in-command" to slain al Qaeda leader Fazul Mohammed, a US intelligence official who closely tracks al Qaeda in the Middle East and beyond told The Long War Journal. Fazul was the leader of al Qaeda in East Africa and a senior Shabaab commander. He was killed by Somali troops at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Mogadishu in June 2011.

Shabaab said that Berqawi was killed today, on "Saturday 28 Safar 1433H," and that he had fought in Somalia before the Islamic Courts Union, the predecessor of Shabaab, was formed.

"The martyr, may Allah have mercy on him, was from the early people who came to jihad in Somalia, where he participated in fighting with the warlords and participated in the war against the Courts and in fighting the African Crusaders," according to that statement.

"The martyr received what he wished for and what he went out for ... when, in the afternoon today, brother Bilal al-Berqawi was exposed to bombing in an outskirt of Mogadishu from a drone that is believed to be American," the statement continued.

I think this is the fascinating part of the whole jihadi movement - you have a British national of Lebanese descent who is a Muslim...and yet he finds himself in the African country of Somalia - it shows that the brainwashing of Islam is complete.

British Shabaab operative killed in airstrike in Somalia


Shabaab said that a British national and who was " from the early people who came to jihad in Somalia" was killed in a US drone airstrike. The slain operative was a senior al Qaeda leader in East Africa.

The British citizen, who was identified as Bilal al Berqawi, was "of a Lebanese origin," according to a statement released today by Shabaab's media arm, Al Kata'ib Foundation for Media Production. The statement, which was published on jihadist forums, was translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Berqawi "was second-in-command" to slain al Qaeda leader Fazul Mohammed, a US intelligence official who closely tracks al Qaeda in the Middle East and beyond told The Long War Journal. Fazul was the leader of al Qaeda in East Africa and a senior Shabaab commander. He was killed by Somali troops at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Mogadishu in June 2011.

Shabaab said that Berqawi was killed today, on "Saturday 28 Safar 1433H," and that he had fought in Somalia before the Islamic Courts Union, the predecessor of Shabaab, was formed.

"The martyr, may Allah have mercy on him, was from the early people who came to jihad in Somalia, where he participated in fighting with the warlords and participated in the war against the Courts and in fighting the African Crusaders," according to that statement.

"The martyr received what he wished for and what he went out for ... when, in the afternoon today, brother Bilal al-Berqawi was exposed to bombing in an outskirt of Mogadishu from a drone that is believed to be American," the statement continued.

The report did not indicate where Berqawi was killed. It is unclear if the US conducted the strike. Kenyan and Ethiopian aircraft have been conducting airstrikes in Somalia.

Although US attack aircraft and drones conduct operations over Somalia, reports of strikes are difficult to confirm. The last confirmed US strike took place on June 25, 2011, when Predators attacked a training camp outside of Kismayo. Ibrahim al Afghani, a senior Shabaab commander who fought in Afghanistan and has close ties with al Qaeda, is rumored to have been killed in the attack, but the report was never confirmed. Shabaab did not release a statement announcing his death.

The US military's Joint Special Operations Command and the CIA are known to operate the armed Predators and Reapers from bases in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, Arba Minch in Ethiopia, the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, and a base in an unnamed country on the Arabian Peninsula. The bases are to be used to attack al Qaeda affiliates Shabaab, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.