A senior leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia has declared jihad against neighboring Kenya for supporting the weak Somali Transitional Federal Government.
The declaration of jihad against Kenya came from Sheikh Hussein Abdi Gedi, the deputy leader of Shabaab in the strategic southern port city of Kismayo. During an interview on Al Andalus Radio, Shabaab’s radio station, Gedi accused Kenya of arming and training Somali’s disorganized military.
“Kenya has prepared troops that comprise of Kenyans and Somalis, who are trained to attack and take over the regions,” Gedi said, according to Garowe. “They are planning to attack us on the land, sea and air. We are urging people to be ready and defend our land.”
Gedi’s statement comes just days after the Ras Kamboni Brigade, formerly one of the four groups in the Hizbul Islam alliance, broke ties to the group and joined Shabaab. Both Shabaab and the Ras Kamboni Brigade pledged support for al Qaeda and the international jihad.
Kenya has trained more than 2,500 troops to fight against Shabaab and other anti-government Islamist terror groups such as Hizbul Islam, according to a Feb. 6 report in Garowe. The troops “are expected to complete the trainings in the coming days,” a Kenya military official involved in the training told the newspaper.
The Somali government has promised that it will launch yet another offensive in Mogadishu in an attempt to eject Shabaab and Hizbul Islam from the capital. Previous offensives have failed to dislodge the Islamist groups.
The weak Transitional Federal Government, backed by thousands of African Union peacekeepers, controls only small enclaves within the capital of Mogadishu, and little else. The South is firmly in the hands of Shabaab and Hizbul Islam, although Shabaab has gained the upper hand since the merger with the Ras Kamboni Brigade.
A pro-government Sufi Islamist militia called Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama’a controls some regions in central Somalia, however, and often clashes with Shabaab and Hizbul Islam.
14 Comments
Bill, don’t know if you’ve seen this or not, but a head’s up. CNN report that a Jordanian Al Qaeda operative named Amar Ibrahim was betrayed and killed by his own Shabaab bodyguards in Mogadishu.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/02/08/somalia.militant.killed/
Not seeing much beyond that, but there it is.
I’m sure that Kenya being a nation of infidels (Christians) has nothing to do with it. Ethiopia will be next.
Tyler,
I did see it but am not certain about the validity. The CNN report claimed the Jordanian replaced Saleh Nabhan, but we know the Fazul Mohammed replaced Nabhan…
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/11/al_qaeda_names_fazul.php
So perhaps the guy was killed, but i don’t think he is as important as the report says he is.
The pretext of Kenya training troops is really irrelevant. The Islamists will use whatever pretext they please, when it suits them. Ethiopia and Kenya have been on their list before. It’s just that the Islamists have spent the last two years retaking Southern Somalia. Now that they have power in Somalia they can think about attacking further a field.
“I’m sure that Kenya being a nation of infidels (Christians) has nothing to do with it. Ethiopia will be next.”
so how is that Bush Strategy working? Seems AQ can fluidly move to another base if need be. So what now? I have an idea. Instead of attacking two bit thugs that support AQ, why don’t we go after the real paymasters in Saudi Arabia, etc. Wow. What a novel idea. To think that an insurgency might dry up and blow away if you cut off outside support.
Finally a comment worth a “AIRBORNE” thank you Major Scarlet.
@NEO: ‘It is a Islamists vs. everyone fight’
Exactly! You hit the nail on the head. What the world needs to do is internationally isolate the countries supporting such murderous Islamists chiefly Pakistan – the greatest exporter of Islamic Terrorism and Jihadi idealogy. And yet in the London conference on Afghanistan The US and EU (NATO) cuddled up to Pakistan and appeased it, in the wrong belief that Pakistan will help in resolving the Afghanistan issue. It only emboldens Jihadis world over to not only continue but expand their murderous reign. Please understand, Pakistan is today’s Nazi Germany. Even back in 1939 appeasement of Hitler by Britain and France did not work. What worked was the world getting toghether to CRUSH Hitler militarily and then de-Nazification of Germany. Exactly what needs to be done in Pakistan today. Isolate Pakistan internationally! Stop providing it sophisticated arms and weaponry! Link humanitarian aid to certifiable action in de-jihadization of itself! Sadly, NATO still lives in the wild dream that Pakistan is the good guy…
Please read the following (written by an Intelligence Officer of India) in support of my earlier post on Pakistan sponsored terrorism:
http://ramanstrategicanalysis.blogspot.com/
No one is going to crush a nuclear armed nation of 170 million people, moreover the debacles in iraq and Afghanistan didn’t win any goodwill towards ally-making for new wars. What most ignorant lay people fail to understand or appreciate is that US Pakistan ties go way back. Abandoning Pakistan is what allowed fundamentalism to take root. US Pakistani military used to have numerous exchange and training programs which ground to halt after the afghan war concluded. Fortunately they are being implemented once again – my cousin is a pilot in the Pak airforce and they are training in US airbases again. It took a generation for ties to sour and islamism to creep in, it will take longer to repair the damage. The solution is support and strengthening ties not severing them.
Pakistan is as non-jihadi as its going to get at the moment. Its most liberal party is in power. If you want to throw them under the bus, just know that it would only get worse under the likes of Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistaniat:
“What most ignorant lay people fail to understand or appreciate is that US Pakistan ties go way back.”
What most ignorant Pakistanis fail to understand or appreciate is that:
–Most Americans will happily forget that.
–Pakistan ties with India go way back.
–Pakistan ties with Bangladesh go way back.
NONE of these ties have borne much fruit.
Most “ignorant lay people” would like to just LIVE peacefully, earning a living and enjoying themselves, doing whatever it is they want to do and not have to worry about Pakistan 10,000 miles away.
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“Abandoning Pakistan is what allowed fundamentalism to take root.”
Why, can’t you look after yourself?
Can’t you keep your own (Sovereign?) house in order?
Is the US your garbage man? (Even if you think yes, why don’t you follow Groucho Marx’s philosophy and tell them you don’t want any today!)
Macho, that nuclear-armed stuff (probably fizzle-sticks) but you can’t stand on your own feet…in your own country! Amazing stuff!!!
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“my cousin is a pilot in the Pak airforce and they are training in US airbases again.”
Do they pat him down everytime he enters the base? Just wondering…….
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“The solution is support and strengthening ties not severing them.”
Kerry-Lugar and more multiplied for a generation! To what end? What is Pak offering?
Sounds like a bad investment to me.
keeping PAK in our “sphere of influence” is important in getting them to kill hadji’s. its also placed real nice, near Iran. make no mistake the regular Omar [JOE] hates us, but the military has the power here. i hope 1 day we can say, “hell with you” and pound them to putty, but thats a long ways-if at all-away.
Pakistaniat:
Nice try. If “ignorant” people will start to look closer at Pakistan, they may wonder why they throw billions of dollars in that corrupt hell-hole.
For your information, islam allowed fundamentalism to take root in Pakistan, and countless madrases in which the youngest generation are brainwashed and dumb-ed down.
The “engineers” (because they hardly know anything besides English, even that not too well since Urdu is forced down on everyone) I worked with in Pakistan were more interested in listening NON-STOP to prayers directly from Saudi Arabia, instead of trying to do a little work. This is why you are where you are as a country.
The world don’t owe you nothing, quite the contrary.