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Fazul Abdullah Mohammed	Fazul Abdullah Mohammed	al-Qaeda	East/Subsaharan Africa				20031105
	Fazul Abdullah Mohammed	al-Ittihaad al-Islamiyyah	Home Front: WoT				20040615	Link
	Fazul Abdullah Mohammed	al-Qaeda in Africa	Africa: East				20040110

Africa Horn

Kenyan Shabaab Leader Flees After Fallout

2017-11-24

[RadioShabelle] A Kenyan who rose through al-Shabaab ... an Islamic infestation centering on Somalia... ranks to become the poster boy for the terrorist organization is on the run after falling out with other commanders who want him executed. Ahmed Iman alias Kimanthi, who appeared in numerous al-Shabaab propaganda videos taunting Kenyan troops fighting in Somalia, the group’s stronghold, is now seeking to surrender to Kenyan forces and get amnesty, the Nation has learnt. Until the row, he was close to the current al-Shabaab supremo Ahmed Diriye and Mahad Karate, also known as Abdirahim Mohammed Warsame, who commanded Shabaab’s Amniyat, its intelligence wing, when button men stormed Garissa University College and killed 147 students in April 2015. In the video clips, which are unavailable after they were pulled down by YouTube, Iman says the killings were carried out to avenge the killing of radical Moslem holy mans. In those videos, he named the holy mans as Aboud Rogo, Samir Khan and Sheikh Abubakar Shariff alias Makaburi. International security sources operating in Somalia told the Nation that Iman has been the head of a group of imported muscle who together with him, are now on the run from the main group loyal to Diriye and Karate. A number of Kenyans and other foreigners who joined al-Shabaab snuffies in Somalia have since been captured and executed. On November 6, a 25-year-old Kenyan from Garissa was among four people who were publicly executed by the snuffies in Somalia. Omar Adar Omar was killed by firing squad on accusations of spying for the Africa Union Mission in Somalia, which comprises the Kenya Defence Forces. The fall-out is further complicated after the emergence of a faction that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems.... in Syria, while Diriye’s group maintains its formal partnership with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The Nation has further learnt that Iman, in a bid to escape from Somalia, has evaded several dragnets to capture him. Al-Shabaab is well known for executing bully boyz within its own ranks whenever there is a fallout. The latest developments are a repeat of what happened to Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, who was killed in a set up laid by Godane Ahmed Abdi Godane alias Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, who was Diriye’s predecessor. Godane was later killed in a joint operation by US and KDF in Somalia. Besides assuming the role of commander of imported muscle in Somalia, Iman also has a great influence in Jaish Ayman, another al-Shabaab faction operating in Boni Forest which spreads across the Kenya-Somalia border in Lamu County. Furthermore, Iman is also said to be getting foreign funding directly, further angering indigenous Somali commanders, the sources also said. A 2016 security report published by the Nation, revealed that Iman and accomplices in Nairobi collected millions of shillings every year by renting shops and kiosks in Umoja and Majengo, and the money is smuggled to Somalia to fund terrorism activities. In one al-Shabaab propaganda video, he was seen clad in KDF uniform, holding a walkie-talkie and an M-16 rifle, which he claimed was one of the arms looted from El-Adde Forward Operating Base, which was overran by the snuffies in January 2016. Besides Kenya, whose soldiers are operating in southern Somalia, al-Shabaab is also being fought by the US and other countries in Amisom, including Æthiopia, Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti.

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Britain

Islamic fanatics behind Kenya massacre in massive UK terror plot

2013-09-27

[EXPRESS.CO.UK] Members of the Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... terror group also set their sights on ­London suburbs such as Golders Green and Stamford Hill. They listed targets in a training manual which contained a blueprint for this week's gun and bomb rampage at Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall. Al-Shabaab's "international operations" document was recovered after one of its most feared warlords was bumped off in Somalia. It said: "Our objectives are to strike London with low-cost operations that would cause a heavy blow among the hierarchy." One British-based security expert said yesterday that an Al Qaeda-backed attack on a UK shopping centre was a distinct possibility. The revelations came amid forensic inquiries into the terror attack in Nairobi which left at least 67 dead. Scotland Yard detectives were among foreign Sherlocks combing through the debris for DNA and ballistics evidence. At least 18 foreigners -- including six Britons -- were said to be among the dead. Five gunnies were also shot and another 11 placed in durance vile Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! Unconfirmed reports suggested that when all the bodies have been recovered, the corpse count could rise by another 60, with the British tally climbing as high as 10. The Al-Shabaab document was found on the body of Al Qaeda commander Fazul Abdullah Mohammed who was bumped off in Mogadishu, Somalia, two years ago. Written after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, where gunnies killed 164 people in the Indian city, it appears to describe the tactics used in Nairobi. The two-page paper details plans to hit Eton -- whose former pupils include Princes William and Harry and Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... -- during an open day. Referring to the Ritz in Piccadilly, the document says: "The plan is to hit the hotel when it's fully booked to ensure maximum casualties. "Key players from all around the world stay in these hotels. "We plan to book in advance and take plenty of petrol with the brother and then set the 1st, 2nd, 3rd floor on fire...while we block the stairs so no one can run down. "The martyrdom seeker would then make his way to the exits and start killing anyone fleeing the area."

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Africa Horn

African Union to join Kenya in fighting Shabaab

2011-11-17

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Kenya and the African Union are to combine their forces in the campaign against Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... in a major strategic shift which could change the face of the Somalia war. The operation will bring together African Union forces operating around Mogadishu, Kenya Defence Forces and Transitional Federal Government forces to fight the thug group throughout Somalia. An agreement reached by Presidents Kibaki, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni and Somalia's Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed will see Ugandan and Burundi-led AU forces backed by soldiers from Kenya. (Read: Missiles strike rebels as more support Kenya) Operations against the group will now be coordinated more closely between the two groups as more forces are expected from Djibuti, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. This would more than double the current number of AU troops operating in Somalia from 9,000 to 20,000. Most of these will be deployed to areas where KDF and Amisom forces have defeated Al-Shabaab. On the day marking exactly one month since Kenya sent its troops into Somalia to chase the bully boyz accused of abductions in Kenya, Presidents Museveni and Shariff flew to Nairobi for a meeting with President Kibaki. Al-Shabaab used the occasion to criticise Kenya's military incursion and made an appeal to Kenyans to prevail upon the government to withdraw the forces. Al-Shabaab front man Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said in interviews that the Kenyan military was not advancing any further. But the front man for the KDF, Maj Emmanuel Chirchir, dismissed the allegations, saying the operation was about to move to phase two which would also include an exit strategy. He did not expound on the statement but Kenya's military operation swiftly took towns and centres in the south of the country and they are now camped outside Afmadow, a town 105km inside Somalia and near Kismayu. The Kenya Air Force and Navy are also operating unchallenged within Somali air space and waters. A joint communique issued after the State House meeting said: "The meeting discussed the status of the joint Kenya-Somalia security operation in pursuit of Al-Shabaab forces of Evil and noted the gains already made by Amisom, TFG and KDF forces and the need to galvanise international support for this purpose."

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Africa Horn

Missile raid targeted top Shabaab leaders

2011-11-16

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The Sunday night missile attack near Mogadishu targeted a meeting of top Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... commanders. Among those at the meeting at the cut-thoats' bases were spiritual leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, Ahmad Godane Abu Zubayr and a Mr 'Amerika'. The whereabouts of the three remained unknown on Tuesday night amid reports that they had been killed. "There were air strikes in Afgoye and K50, which are controlled by Al-Shabaab. The area of concentration was Afgoye where the three Al-Shabaab commanders were holding a meeting. "We are informed that they hit their targets," said African Union Mission for Somalia deputy special representative Wafula Wamunyinyi. Mr Wamunyinyi could not, however, confirm whether the three were killed or injured during the strikes, saying information from the ground was still scanty. He could also not confirm whether the air strikes were carried out by the Kenyan forces or the African Union troops. "All we know at the moment is that the allied forces hit their targets, some forces of Evil were killed and others were maimed but it is difficult to tell because the forces of Evil who control the town have blocked anybody from reaching the scene," he said. In Nairobi, President Kibaki welcomed the support Kenya was receiving from regional governments in its drive to wipe out Al-Shabaab. The Head of State said a stable and peaceful Somalia would create an environment conducive for development in the region. The President was officially opening a regional infrastructure conference in Nairobi. He added: "I therefore welcome the support Kenya has obtained from both its citizens and regional governments as we embark on the operation to deal with forces of Evil based in Somalia who have sought to destabilise our economies." East African Community members Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi are among those that have backed the joint Kenya's armed forces and Somalia's Transitional Federal Government soldiers to weed out the rag-tag militia. Kenya also has support from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development members with Djibouti offering troops to hold areas taken over from Al-Shabaab. The country also has backing from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , the US, Japan, South Africa and Egypt among others. Media reports claimed that two Al-Shabaab commanders were killed in the Sunday raid on Afgoye. They quoted Somali officials claiming that Sheikh Dahir Aweys and Mr Gobane were killed in a massive blast in the town located about 32 kms west of Mogadishu. The kaboom was at a "compound" known to be used by the cut-thoats, according to Sunatimes and Mareeg Online.

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Africa Horn

Israel to back Kenya offensive in Somalia

2011-11-15

[Iran Press TV] Kenyan officials say Israel is ready to help their country in its offensive against al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... fighters in Somalia, Press TV reports. Practice against the time when Egypt becomes Somalia-on-the-Nile? Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has requested Tel Aviv's assistance in carrying out intensified offensives inside neighboring Somalia. In response to the request, Israeli President Shimon Peres has vowed to aid Kenya with whatever it needs in its fight against Al-Shabaab fighters. Meanwhile Al-Shabaab says its fighters have killed 27 Kenyan troops and destroyed a military vehicle carrying ammunition. Kenyan troops invaded Somalia last month in a bid to fight off the local fighters. Kenya blames the fighters for a spate of abductions of foreign nationals in northern Kenya, near the Somali border. The hard boyz deny the allegations.

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Africa Horn

Kenya: 30 Somalia insurgency recruits take amnesty

2011-11-12

(AP) -- A police official says more than 30 young men living in Kenya who belong to a Somalia-based al-Qaeda-linked beturbanned goon group have accepted an amnesty. Police front man Eric Kiraithe said Saturday that the recruits from the Somali beturbanned goon group al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... are providing information on the group. Kenyan troops entered southern Somalia last month in pursuit of al-Shabaab Islamic fascisti who the government blames for a string of kidnappings and attacks on European tourists. Al-Shabaab has threatened to retaliate with large-scale terror attacks in Kenya's capital. Police blame the group for several attacks in recent weeks in which seven people were killed, some by grenades. A non-Somali Kenyan national was convicted to life in prison for one of the grenade attacks.

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Africa Horn

Al-Shabab ambush kills 30 Kenyan troops

2011-11-12

[Iran Press TV] Somalia's al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... fighters say they have killed at least 30 foreign soldiers in an attack in the country's south, as violence rages on the lawless Horn of Africa nation, Press TV reports. The incident occurred when the Somali fighters ambushed a convoy of Kenyan troops, which resulted in an hours-long battle. The fighting began on Thursday afternoon and continued overnight between the southern Somali towns of Tabda, where Kenyan soldiers are operating, and Bilis Qooqaani. Al-Shabaab fighters said they also managed to destroy six Kenyan military trucks. Somali government officials, however, has put the number of mortalities at about 21. They said only three trucks destroyed in that attack and four other vehicles were captured by the fighters. The conflict is the latest outbreak of violence in southern Somalia, where Kenyan forces and al-Shabaab fighter have been engaged fierce battled over the last weeks. In October, Kenya dispatched soldiers into neighboring Somalia and began air and ground offensives against al-Shaboobs, who Nairobi blames for a string of kidnappings in Kenya. . Tension has been growing between the hapless Somali government backed by Kenyan troops and al-Shaboobs over control of towns in south Somalia. Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the country's former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Strategically located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains one of the countries generating the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world.

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Africa Horn

French copter crashes in Somalia

2011-11-12

[Iran Press TV] Nine people are believed to have died after a French helicopter crashed near Somalia's Southern port city of Kismayo, Press TV reports. The military chopper crashed late on Friday as it was patrolling the area between the town of Kuda and Kismayo, local Somali official, Captain Sabriye, said. The crash caused a massive kaboom and sent flames high into the sky. French helicopters fly over the area, to provide backup for Kenyan forces, who launched an incursion into Somalia in October in pursuit of al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... fighters. In late October, French military front man Colonel Thierry Burkhard said Gay Paree would transport air-borne military equipment to Kenyan soldiers near the Somali border.

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Africa Horn

Kenyan troops gear up for fresh Shabaab raids

2011-11-11

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Aerial attacks on Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... positions will continue but Somali towns will not be deliberately targeted, the Kenya military said on Thursday. Air Force jets and helicopter gunships will only target Al-Shabaab bases and not civilians as they mount the search for weapons suspected to have been flown in from Eritrea. "We will continue engaging Al-Shabaab camps from the air, but we will not bomb towns," Kenya Defence Forces front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir said. The new approach follows recent talks between Kenya and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Nairobi over the ongoing military operation in the war torn nation. TFG's Minister for Defence Hussein Arab Issa said the Nairobi talks had resolved that Kenya's Defence Forces would not carry out air strikes in southern Somalia in order to flush out the rebels. "We discussed with the Kenyan government and agreed that they will not raid Somali towns from the air," a local broadcaster quoted Mr Issa telling the press in Mogadishu on Thursday. Last week, Kenyan troops fighting Al-Shabaab inside Somalia placed 10 towns under surveillance after the cut-throats apparently brought in a consignment of arms for retaliatory attacks. Avoid contact with orcs The military advised residents of the 10 towns -- Baidoa, Baadheere, Baydhabo, Dinsur, Afgooye, Bwale, Barawe, Jilib, Kismayu and Afmadow -- to avoid any contact with the cut-throats so that they are not endangered in case of attacks. "In line with the Kenya Defence Forces strategy of diminishing Al-Shabaab's effectiveness and weapons use, the aforementioned towns will remain under imminent attack. "Residents in the towns are advised to avoid contact with Al-Shabaab militia," Major Chirchir was quoted then. On Thursday, Major Chirchir clarified that Kenyan forces would only target Al-Shabaab bases and not civilians and warned locals to keep away from militia camps. "We ask local Somalis not to mix with the cut-throats because we will target them," he said. Reports from southern Somalia said the cut-throats had turned to elders in the region to help them recruit fighters and amass weapons. Local media reported that Al-Shabaab leaders in Juba region had held a closed-door meeting with more than 60 elders to plead with them to allow their youths to join the orc group as they regroup to counter a joint offensive from Kenyan and TFG troops. The reports, quoting local Al-Shabaab leader Yakub Ali lend credence to information that the orc group was disintegrating in the face of the Kenyan offensive. Scores of cut-throats have been killed in the operation with others defecting to the pro-government forces. The reports quoted sources in the meeting saying that the elders had rejected the orcs' request, terming it a "hard decision" to make since they advocate for peace only. On Tuesday, Al-Shabaab's senior most leader, Hassan Dahir Aweys admitted that his group was facing resistance from clan elders who had refused to release their youths to join the orcs. Aweys reportedly told worshippers during prayers on the outskirts of Mogadishu that nearly all clans were beginning to shift allegiance to the TFG, which, with the support of troops from the Africa Mission in Somalia (Amisom) now controls 98 per cent of the capital.

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Africa Horn

Shabaab parade in stronghold

2011-11-10

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... fighters have paraded in the streets of one of their strongholds on the Somali coast and vowed to repulse the Kenyan incursion. (Read: Al-Shabaab on the run in south zone) The show of force in Marka town, 500 kilometres north of Kismayu, involved a display of speed boats mounted with machine guns with which they hope to face the Kenya Navy. Also on display were the four-wheel pick-ups mounted with machine guns, known as technicals. Residents of the town said they were asked to come out on the streets and beach to witness the parade. Marka is about 100 kilometres south of the capital, Mogadishu, from where the rebels have been largely routed by African Union forces. Kenyan and Somali government troops are approaching Kismayu from the south after taking a string of towns on the coastline. The Tuesday display came as Kenya's military incursion inside Somalia was debated in the UK parliament. Using loud speakers on minibuses, the gunnies drove around calling on the inhabitants of Marka, the capital of Lower Shabelle region, to come out and watch a big military display. Along the coastline, speedboats mounted with automatic machine guns, according to witnesses, cut across the water in formation. Defend territory An Al-Shabaab officials who addressed the crowd vowed to defend their territory if attacked from the sea, witnesses said. The gunnies appeared to be reacting to indications that the Kenya Navy, that already controls the Indian Ocean waters in territory the land forces have taken, was preparing to launch offensives against them in their strongholds including the main port town of Kismayu. The cut-throats zoomed around the streets of Marka in technicals bearing masked fighters wielding assault rifles and escorted by others on cycle of violences. "Our forces are ready to defeat any aggressor," an Al-Shabaab official whose name was not given was quoted as telling the crowd. According to some reports, the residents who had gathered to watch the parade decamped when a cycle of violence rider lost control and ploughed into the crowd killing a young boy and injuring several other people. Al-Shabaab is under severe pressure from the Kenya military and its Transitional Federal Government allies. They have already decamped from a large swathe of territory they used to control near the Kenyan border like Ras Kamboni, Oddo and Burgabo. Kenyan troops crossed the border on October 16 after a series of unprovoked attacks by gunnies in Kenya. Two tourists were killed in Lamu and another two kidnapped, one of who died in captivity. The Kenyans' objective is to degrade Al-Shabaab's capacity to wage war, drive them out of large areas of southern Somalia and hand them over to government forces. The capture of Kismayu port whose shipping revenue earns the rebels millions of dollars which they use to buy weapons is key to the Kenyan plan. But the parade in Marka, hundreds of kilometres from the Kenyans' war theatre may force them to extend the operation beyond Kismayu. Meanwhile, ...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea: there was a simple way to tell whether Manetti had been the triggerman -- just look at his shoes!... Al-Shabaab grabbed credit for a series of grenade attacks on the residences of Somali government officials and positions of the TFG forces in Mogadishu on Tuesday night. An attack on the house of a former minister of Justice, Sheikh Abdurahman Farah Janaqow, an MP in South Mogadishu, was reported to have killed two people and maimed others. Among casualties The MP was not listed among the casualties. Other grenade attacks targeted the residence of Mr Ahmed Hassan Addow, alias Ahmed Da'ie, the District Commissioner of Wadajir in Southern Mogadishu. Another attack occurred at Fagah, an important checkpoint in Karan District in North Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab have resorted to hit and run tactics and suicide bombs since Ugandan and Burundian troops pushed them out of the capital. Their targets have included not just Amisom troops, but also government officials and civilians in public places such as markets, schools and mosques.

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Africa Horn

Allies hunt Shabaab fighters door-to-door

2011-11-09

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A door-to-door operation has been launched to flush out Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... remnants in towns and centres captured by the Kenyan Defence Forces and their Somali Transitional Federal Government allies. Kenya military front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir said that the allied troops were conducting patrols and searching houses in several towns. "The focus is to ensure that these towns and villages are free of Al-Shabaab," Maj Chirchir told the Nation. (READ: Al-Shabaab on the run in south zone) Looking for weapons The door-to-door search started on Tuesday and will cover towns such as Ras Kamboni, Mnarani, Burgavo, Tabda, Beles Qooqani, Dhobley, Busar and Jilib, which are now under the control of the Kenyan troops and the Somali army. "The exercise is being run simultaneously in the Northern, Central and Southern sectors to ensure that no Al-Shabaab cut-throats are hiding in the towns under our control. "We are also looking for any weapons that could be hidden in the towns and villages as well as trying to obtain information from locals on the possible hideouts for the Al-Shabaab," Major Chirchir said. The Kenya Navy, meanwhile, announced that its operations on the Indian Ocean had so far eliminated piracy incidents around the Somalia coast close to Kenya. Nation Media Group has news teams embedded with the Kenyan military at sea and on land though this report contains material gathered in Nairobi. Besides flushing out the cut-throats and impounding hidden weapons, the Kenyan troops want to open up the towns for international humanitarian organizations to deliver supplies, Maj Chirchir said in Nairobi. "Today, the KDF forces at the battlefront were involved in patrols and pacification in the liberated areas and Al-Shabaab pockets," said Major Chirchir. "This pacification patrols reinforce the operation objectives and facilitate access by international aid organizations in the liberated areas," he added. The Kenyan troops are on the third week of Operation Linda Nchi in Somalia aimed against the thug militia blamed for insecurity across the Horn of Africa. The ultimate plan is to capture the two Al-Shabaab strongholds of Afmadow and Kismayu and allow TFG to take control. It was not immediately clear whether the troops had captured any Al-Shabaab fighters in the door-to-door operation. Maj Chirchir however said the exercise would be extended to surrounding villages. The Kenya Navy has in the meantime been conducting patrols in the Indian Ocean to keep out the cut-throats and have so far sunk two enemy boats, killing over ten members of the Al-Shabaab in the process, according to the military. (READ: Kenya Navy sinks boat believed to be carrying rebels) However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... there have been protests that one of the boats reported sunk was actually crewed by local fishermen. In southern Somalia, the leader of the Ras Kamboni Brigade, fighting alongside TFG forces and the Kenyan military, said the areas freed from Al-Shaabab control urgently require food aid and medicine. Mr Ahmed Mohammed Islan told the Nation the conditions are now safe for international aid agencies. Mr Islan, also known Madoobe, said the entry of the Kenya Defence Forces on the scene led to the routing of the Al Shaabab, which had taken over the strategic town by the sea. "The people welcomed us here but help is needed. The aid agencies kept away because of the Al Shaabab but it is now safe for them to come back," said Mr Islan. He said the residents of Ras Kamboni, whose mainstay is deep sea fishing, have for long been deprived of the means through which they earned a living. The fishermen at Ras Kamboni said they had to pay a protection fee to the militia group in the form of cash from their sales or give up a portion of the catch. They have now been banned from fishing at night or crossing the border into Kenya, where they supplied restaurants and resorts on the islands at the coast. Kenyan authorities said their boats were at times used to smuggle weapons and ammunition. It is also suspected that the easy access they had to the Kenyan coast and the islands along it made it easy for the suspected Al-Shaabab militia to kidnap Judith Tebbut and Marie Dedeu in September and October respectively. The free movement in the sea also made it easy for pirates to launch attacks on merchant ships off the long Somalia coastline, often straying into Kenya's territorial waters.

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Africa Horn

Al-Shabaab on the run in south zone

2011-11-08

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Kenyan troops operating in the southern part of the border with Somalia estimate that they have removed the Al-Shabaab ... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader... from about 50 per cent of the area. (Read: Al-Shabaab bully boyz fall back to defend Kismayu) Speaking to the Nation at Ishakani Military Camp, about four kilometres from the border at the tip of Kenya, Lieutenant Colonel John Maison Nkoimo said the troops are firm on the ground and remain focused on achieving their objective. "We're pretty sure that southwards of Burgavo, we don't expect any hostilities," said Lt Col Nkoimo, who is commanding the Southern Sector. The camp at Ishakani is the launching point for troops in the Southern Sector of Operation Linda Nchi, which is being carried out in a three-pronged attack from the North at El Wak, Centre at Liboi and the South at the coast and northwards. Ishakani is a few kilometres from Ras Kamboni, the former headquarters of the Al-Qaeda in East Africa, which was taken on Mashujaa Day. Burgavo remains under the control of the Kenyan troops, who will then embark on the attack on the important port city of Kismayu, in a bid to strangle the Al-Shabaab economically. Lt Col Nkoimo said the battle for Kismayu would be fought "on our own terms and at our own time". In Nairobi, President Kibaki for the second time warned that Kenya will not relent in its military operation against Al-Shabaab bully boyz in Somalia. The President said the military was determined to complete the task of eliminating the terrorist threat posed by the bad turban group. "In Kenya, we are currently dealing with a bully boy group based inside Somalia that has sought to destabilise not just Kenya, but the entire Horn of Africa region," the President said when he officially opened the first Africa Congress of Accountants in Nairobi. Addressing the nation on Mashujaa Day, the President, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, said Kenyan troops would not relent in their pursuit of the bully boyz inside Somalia. Ten days ago, the Chief of General Staff General Julius Karangi also affirmed the military's determination to complete the mission in Somalia. Long-standing instability On Monday, President Kibaki said that Kenya and the region in general would never find lasting peace unless the Al-Shabaab was wiped out. "A solution to the long-standing instability is good for the Horn of Africa and indeed the entire African continent. Kenya intends to complete the work and operation we have began inside Somalia and create a strong foundation for the prosperity of the continent," he said. Kenyan troops are on their third week of the incursion against the Somali bully boys, who are accused of having links to Al-Qaeda. The offensive, dubbed Operation Linda Nchi, is aimed at weakening the beturbanned goons besides restraining their ability to launch cross-border attacks. Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia after the bully boyz carried out a serious of attacks within Kenya. In September, Somali gunnies kidnapped British tourist Judith Tebbutt, after killing her husband, David. Two weeks later, a French tourist, Marie Dedieu, was kidnapped and was later reported dead. Two Spanish aid workers were also kidnapped from the Dadaab refugee camp in October. Somalia has been without a central government since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted. Meanwhile, ...back at the bake sale, Umberto's Mom's cannoli were a big hit... the military denied reports by an Iranian news network that fifteen Kenyan soldiers had been killed in the Somali town of Tabda. Military front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir dismissed the reports as part of a propaganda campaign waged by the bully boys. Quoting sources within the Somalia government, the reports claimed that the Kenyan soldiers had been killed accidentally by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) fighters. At the same time, religious leaders in Garissa on Monday called for calm in the wake of Saturday night's grenade attack on a church in the town which killed two people and injured five others. In a statement, the church leaders condemned the attack on the East Africa Pentecostal Church, saying it was a criminal act which should be dealt with by security organs.

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