Unconfirmed Reports Says Al Qaeda's #1 Leader In East Africa Has Been Killed In Somalia...Is Fazul Mohammed

Now, a lot of you might not be as familiar with al Qaeda's Fazul Mohammed as some of the other higher ups but this is the guy in Somalia who the U.S. alone has taken more than one pot shot with cruise missiles over the past 4 years...well, there are now unconfirmed reports that Fazul Mohammed was killed in a checkpoint firefight in Somalia. Fazul Mohammed is also the al Qaeda figure who was integral in the bombings of the Kenya and Tanzania embassies of America.

From the report at The Long War Journal:

Somali officials claimed today that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al Qaeda's leader in East Africa and a senior Shabaab commander, was killed at a Somali military checkpoint in Mogadishu earlier this week. The report is unconfirmed. Fazul is one of the most wanted terrorists in East Africa for his role in attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania as well as his role within Shabaab.

News of Fazul's reported death came from Kenya's top police official, who said Somali officials claimed the terrorist was one of two killed on June 11.

"We have received that communication from authorities in Somalia. We have been told that there were two terrorists who were killed in Somalia on Wednesday last week," Kenyan Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told AFP. The identity of one of the two dead Shabaab leaders had "been given as Fazul Mohammed."

"TFG forces have confirmed they gunned him down at a roadblock on Wednesday," Iteere later told The Nation.

Fazul was carrying "a South African passport in the name of Daniel Robinson" and was carrying more than $40,000 in cash, Sky News reported. "The passport, issued April 13, 2009, indicated that its bearer left South Africa for Tanzania on March 19 and was granted a visa there."

An unnamed Shabaab leader told AFP that Fazul was killed.

Now, I'm not going to put much stock in anything that comes out of Somalia as being true or accurate so I wouldn't doubt it for a minute that this information is false or erroneous but I do find the info that he was carrying a South African passport as interesting - in other words, I am encouraged that the report is that detailed.

If this is true, it's going to be a big downer to al Shabaab and al Qaeda in general - al Qaeda has bin Laden dead, al Awlawki in Yemen dodging hellfires weekly now and now this leader in eastern Africa is dead - it would definitely leave some vacuums in the upper levels. Let's hope, for once, that the Somalis are right about something.

Al Qaeda's East Africa chief Fazul Mohammed killed in Somalia: report


Somali officials claimed today that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al Qaeda's leader in East Africa and a senior Shabaab commander, was killed at a Somali military checkpoint in Mogadishu earlier this week. The report is unconfirmed. Fazul is one of the most wanted terrorists in East Africa for his role in attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania as well as his role within Shabaab.

News of Fazul's reported death came from Kenya's top police official, who said Somali officials claimed the terrorist was one of two killed on June 11.

"We have received that communication from authorities in Somalia. We have been told that there were two terrorists who were killed in Somalia on Wednesday last week," Kenyan Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere told AFP. The identity of one of the two dead Shabaab leaders had "been given as Fazul Mohammed."

"TFG forces have confirmed they gunned him down at a roadblock on Wednesday," Iteere later told The Nation.

Fazul was carrying "a South African passport in the name of Daniel Robinson" and was carrying more than $40,000 in cash, Sky News reported. "The passport, issued April 13, 2009, indicated that its bearer left South Africa for Tanzania on March 19 and was granted a visa there."

An unnamed Shabaab leader told AFP that Fazul was killed.

"One of the men that was killed near Mogadishu was Fazul Abdullah, may Allah bless his soul. He is not dead as thousands like him are still in the fight against the enemy of Allah," the Shabaab commander said.

Neither Shabaab nor al Qaeda has released an official martyrdom statement announcing Fazul's death.

A US intelligence official who tracks al Qaeda in East Africa told The Long War Journal he was aware of the report and is awaiting confirmation of Fazul's death.

If Fazul is confirmed killed, he would be the last of the three al Qaeda operatives wanted for the 1998 suicide attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In September 2009, US Special Operations Forces killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan during a raid south of Mogadishu. And in early 2007, Abu Tahla al Sudani was killed during fighting with Ethiopian forces.

Fazul, a 21-year veteran of al Qaeda, is considered one of the terror group's top commanders in eastern Africa. Also, he is one of several non-Somalis to hold top leadership positions in Shabaab. A senior US intelligence official described Fazul as one of al Qaeda's "most dangerous and most capable leaders."

"He has been at the top of our list for some time," the official told The Long War Journal.

Fazul joined al Qaeda after traveling to Pakistan in 1990. He was a member of the al Qaeda team that participated in the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993. Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 18 US soldiers were killed during the heavy street fighting.

He was responsible for planning the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the November 2002 attacks in Mombasa, Kenya in which a car bomb struck a hotel and missiles were fired at an Israeli airliner. He also served as the intelligence chief for the Islamic Courts during its reign in 2006. Fazul went on to serve as the operations chief for al Qaeda in East Africa.

In November 2009, Osama bin Laden named Fazul as the head of al Qaeda in East Africa. He replaced Nabhan, who was killed by US special operations forces. Fazul's promotion was announced at a ceremony held by Shabaab and attended by top Shabaab leaders, including Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, the terror group's spiritual leader.

"I will honestly perform my duties following my appointment to this new big position by Sheikh Osama bin Laden," Fazul told those in attendance.

The US has targeted Fazul in several strikes since 2006. Fazul was previously thought to have been killed in a US naval strike in 2007, after Ethiopia invaded Somalia to bring down the Islamic Courts, Shabaab's predecessor. The US Navy targeted Fazul in a naval battle off the coast of Puntland in June 2007. A large group of Yemenis, Afghans, Central Asians, Arabs, and Somalis were reported to be accompanying Fazul.

The following year, in August 2008, Fazul narrowly escaped a raid in Kenya.

Bin Laden Appoints New Al Qaeda Leader in East Africa

From the Long War Journal, it is being reported that al Qaeda has a new leader in the eastern Africa region - none other than Fazul Abdullah Mohammed ... yep, the same asshole that helped carry out the U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya back in the 90's. As we know, Africa in general is a prime target of al Qaeda as we have seen much progresss made there by the terrorist group in countries such as Somalia, Sudan, Algeria and Morocco.

By the way, the reason that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed is the NEW al Qaeda leader in the region is because his predecessor was turned into ashes by U.S. special ops forces two months ago. Hopefully, it will only take a matter of weeks to seal the same fate for this clown.

Al Qaeda names Fazul Mohammed East African commander

An al Qaeda leader wanted by the US for a string of deadly attacks has been named the new leader of terror group's network in East Africa.
Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of several al Qaeda leaders charged with carrying out the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was appointed the leader of al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa.
Fazul was "inaugurated" during an open ceremony in the southern city of Kismayo, according to a translation received by The Long War Journal of an article posted Waaga Cusub, a website operated by the Hawiye clan, which supports the Somali insurgency. He "delivered his longest speech delivered his longest speech [sic]," the website reported.
During his speech, Fazul said he was appointed by Osama bin Laden and praised his predecessor, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, who was killed during a US special operations raid in southern Somalia in mid-September.
"Saleh was a very careful person, he was a hero and a creative man," Fazul said. "He was an expert of Information Technology and politics. I am a military man, and was in charge of the forces. I will honestly perform my duties following my appointment to this new big position by Sheikh Osama bin Ladin (Allah save him)."
Fazul admitted to carrying out the 1998 suicide bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people and wounded thousands more. He received sanctuary from Aden Hashi Ayro, the former military commander of Shabaab who was killed by the US in a strike in May 2008, and Sheikh Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, the spiritual leader of Shbaab.
"I came to Somalia after we carried out the explosions of American imperialist in 1998," Fazul said. "I was welcomed by the late Moalim Adan Ayrow [Ayro], my brother Ahmad Godane [Zubayr] joined us later."
Fazul also said that al Qaeda and Shabaab would take the fight to neighboring countries.
"Praise be to Allah," Fazul said. "After Somalia we will proceed to Djibouti, Kenya, and Ethiopia."
Zubayr, Shabaab's leader, also spoke at Fazul's appointment ceremony and praised Fazul's skill in training Somali jihadis.
Background on Fazul Abdullah Mohammed
Fazul, an 19-year veteran of al Qaeda, is considered one of the terror group's top commanders in eastern Africa. A senior US intelligence official described Fazul as one of al Qaeda's "most dangerous and most capable leaders."
"He has been at the top of our list for some time," the official told The Long War Journal.
Fazul joined al Qaeda after traveling to Pakistan in 1990. He was a member of the al Qaeda team that participated in the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993. Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 18 US soldiers were killed during the heavy street fighting.
Fazul went on to serve as the operations chief for al Qaeda in East Africa. He was responsible for planning the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the 2002 car bombing attack in Kenya and missile attack on an Israeli airliner. He also served as the intelligence chief for the Islamic Courts during its reign in 2006.
The US Navy targeted Fazul in a naval battle off the coast of Puntland in June 2007. A large group of Yemenis, Afghans, Central Asians, Arabs, and Somalis were reported to be accompanying Fazul.
In August 2008, Fazul narrowly escaped a raid in Kenya.

Al Qaeda Leader In North Africa Narrowly Escapes Capture In Kenya

This was close and dammit, the Kenyan authorities came up empty in nabbing al Qaeda in Eastern Africa leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. Fazul had apparently snuck into Kenya from Somalia to get some needed medical attention where Kenyan officials got a tip on him but he escaped capture. Here's some of the details from The Long War Journal:

Senior al Qaeda leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed escaped a raid in the resort town of Mandali in Kenyan, police stated.
Kenyan police raided a home after "intelligence reports show that he came into the country from Somalia to seek medical attention because of a kidney condition," an anonymous senior detective told Reuters. Two men were detained and two of Fazul's passports were found.
Fazul appears to have received a tip that helped him escape. "We sealed off the whole area and had sea and land patrols but unfortunately, Fazul got leakage of the intended raid and escaped," the official told Reuters. "We are still looking for him."

As to just why Fazul is such a big prize in the region, take a look at his list of terror acts:

Fazul, an 18-year veteran of al Qaeda, is considered one of the terror group's top commanders in eastern Africa, where he serves as the operations chief. He was responsible for planning the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the 2002 car bombing attack in Kenya and missile attack on an Israeli airliner. He also served as the intelligence chief for the Islamic Courts during its reign in 2006.

If there is any saving grace in this missed capture, it would be that Fazul didn't get his medical treatment and his kidneys are barking at him as he scurries back to Somalia. My guess is that Somalia isn't a hotbed for endocrinology.

The West has been after this asshat for quite some time and you may remember a couple of missile strikes the U.S. has launched at him over the past year and a half so I would say this cat's days are numbered. Whether a U.S. missile gets him, or a Kenyan police officer or his kidneys, it has been too long coming.

Al Qaeda's East Africa operations chief escapes raid in Kenya

Senior al Qaeda leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed escaped a raid in the resort town of Mandali in Kenyan, police stated.
Kenyan police raided a home after "intelligence reports show that he came into the country from Somalia to seek medical attention because of a kidney condition," an anonymous senior detective told Reuters. Two men were detained and two of Fazul's passports were found.
Fazul appears to have received a tip that helped him escape. "We sealed off the whole area and had sea and land patrols but unfortunately, Fazul got leakage of the intended raid and escaped," the official told Reuters. "We are still looking for him."
Fazul, an 18-year veteran of al Qaeda, is considered one of the terror group's top commanders in eastern Africa, where he serves as the operations chief. He was responsible for planning the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as the 2002 car bombing attack in Kenya and missile attack on an Israeli airliner. He also served as the intelligence chief for the Islamic Courts during its reign in 2006.
Fazul joined al Qaeda after traveling to Pakistan in 1990. He was a member of the al Qaeda team that participated in the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993. Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 18 US soldiers were killed during the heavy street fighting.
Fazul, along with al Qaeda leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and Abu Tala al Sudani, has been sheltering in Somalia with the Islamic Courts and its radical offshoot, Shabab. The Islamic Courts and Shabab have stepped up its attacks in Somalia the past several months. Islamic Courts and Shabab fighters attack Somali and Ethiopian forces on a daily basis and again control vast swaths of central and southern Somalia.