Home Front: WoT |
(PJM Exclusive) DOJ Memo Confirms Terrorists Have Crossed the Border |
2011-03-23 |
![]() In this court filing, provided exclusively here at Pajamas Media, prosecutors admit that Dhakane, who ran a human smuggling ring based in Brazil for the Somali Al-Shabaab terrorist group, transported violent jihadists into the country. He stated that he believed they would fight against the U.S. if the jihad moved from overseas locations to the U.S. mainland. (p. 7) In the DOJ sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors explain that Dhakane knowingly smuggled violent jihadists into the country: More importantly, based on the Defendants recorded statements and admissions made to law enforcement agents, the Defendant was a former member, or at the very least, associated with [Al-Ittihad al-Islami] AIAI, an SDGT, and that he believed that there was no separation of personnel between AIAI, the Council of Islamic Courts, and Al-Shabbab, a designated [Foreign Terrorist Organization] FTO. All while our AFT and corrupt government ships guns to Mexico. Any wonder the security is falling apart on Bambi's watch? |
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Africa Horn | |||
Somali hard boyz stepping to the fore | |||
2006-02-24 | |||
![]() Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, said by the United States to be linked to al-Qaida, is prominent among the Wednesday, Aweys pledged to keep fighting a new alliance arrayed against him in Mogadishu, the Somali capital. Mogadishu was calm Thursday as elders sought to Aweys described his rivals as "forces of evil" supported by Western powers.
Counterterrorism experts in the U.S. and elsewhere have long worried that al-Qaida could find a haven in Somalia, taking advantage of its
Saturday, a coalition of warlords and businessman announced they were taking a stand against the fundamentalists. They said in a statement they would "eradicate the extremists, terrorists and their supporters so as to pave the way for a peaceful country for the Somali children." The emergence of the coalition is evidence the warlords see the fundamentalist as a serious threat. With stakes high on both sides, it could signal the start of a significant deterioration in security in an already lawless land. | |||
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Africa: Horn | |||
Sheikh Aweys declares war on Somali interim government | |||
2005-09-10 | |||
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Africa: Horn |
UN sez 17 al-Qaeda training camps active in Somalia |
2005-07-11 |
A new and ruthless cell with links to al-Qaida has grabbed a foothold in Somalia's capital, according to a report released Monday that dovetails with other analyses showing the lawless country could become a haven for international terrorists. In its report, the International Crisis Group said the Mogadishu cell was led by a young Somali militant trained in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was once based. The report said the group ``announced its existence by murdering four foreign aid workers in the relatively secure territory of Somaliland between October 2003 and April 2004.'' The Brussels-based group that tracks world conflicts said the threat of terrorism inspired by an extremist interpretation of Islam ``in and from Somalia is real.'' It added that al-Qaida contributed to attacks on U.S. and U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia in the early 1990s and used the country as a transit zone for attacks in neighboring Kenya and as a hiding place for some of its leading members today. A new transitional government was formed last year during peace talks in neighboring Kenya, but the administration has failed to relocate to Mogadishu because the city is considered unsafe. The government is also opposed by Islamic extremists and some of the dozens of warlords who control some of the 53,000 militias in the country. In March, United Nations experts monitoring an arms embargo on Somalia reported that Islamic hard-liners, including a group with alleged ties to al-Qaida, was importing high explosives, mines, hand and rifle-fired grenades, anti-tank weapons and ammunition and anti-aircraft guns and ammunition. The U.N. monitors said they had pictures and information that about 17 mobile military training camps have been established by the Islamic Somali group, Al-Ittihad al-Islami, which wants to use its military power against the new government to impose Islamic law on Somali society. Al-Ittihad, listed by the United States as a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida, operates openly as a religious organization and is a powerful economic force in southern Somalia. In the latest assessment, the International Crisis Group did not identify the Mogadishu cell, but said it is led by led by Aden Hashi Ayro. Its members had ``little or no religious authority ... (and) seem to be organized exclusively to conduct urban insurgency and terrorism operations without a clear political aim,'' the group said. The International Crisis Group said Western governments, led by the U.S., were building up counterterrorist networks headed by Somali faction leaders and former military or police and by working with the security services in breakaway Somaliland and semiautonomous Puntland. The strategy has netted at least one key al-Qaida figure, and as many as a dozen members of the new group are either dead or behind bars, according to the group. In May, the then-commander of a U.S. counterterrorism task force for the Horn of Africa said Somalia has become a haven for terrorists in East Africa. Marine Maj. Gen. Samuel Helland said U.S. troops were working with Somalia's neighbors to improve their border security since pressure on the al-Qaida terror group in Pakistan and Afghanistan may force some members to seek refuge in East Africa. |
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Africa: East |
Mogadishu Warlords Help Americans Hunt for Terrorists |
2003-11-05 |
Sounds like weâve gotten rid of that "canât work with scumbags" notion. EFL: In lawless Mogadishu, where U.S. officials fear al-Qaida members are plotting their next attack, the word is out: catch a terrorist, collect rewards as high as $5 million. At least four al-Qaida terrorist suspects are in Somalia, Kenyan officials and U.N. experts say, and Americans are trying to capture them in a country without an effective central government for more than a decade, officials and gunmen told The Associated Press. So far, those efforts are known to have netted at least one al-Qaida suspect - Suleiman Abdalla Salim Hemed, whoâs accused of playing a role in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa - but rumors abound of gunmen kidnapping Arabs and turning them over to U.S. agents. A Somali warlord, Mohammed Dheere, coordinated the capture of Hemed at the behest of U.S. officials, gunmen familiar with the Hemed operation told AP, speaking privately for fear of reprisals. Most Somalis believe Dheere was generously rewarded. Kenyaâs national security minister, Chris Murungaru, claimed credit for Hemedâs capture and said he was turned over to U.S. authorities, who have refused to comment. But the gunmen said U.S. agents regularly visit Dheere at his Mogadishu home and an AP reporter saw two of the alleged agents, dressed in regular clothing, moving through Mogadishu using a team of bodyguards belonging to Bashir Rageh, a wealthy businessman closely associated with Dheere. After Hemedâs capture, Dheere questioned Hemedâs friends for hours, asking about other suspected terrorists. When shown photos from the FBIâs Most Wanted Terrorists Web site, Hemedâs friends said Dheere used the same photos when he questioned them. They said they didnât recognize any of the men in the photos. One of the most-wanted al-Qaida suspects, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, is thought to be hiding in Somalia, a senior Kenyan security official told AP on Wednesday. Somalia, a semiarid country, offers an attractive location for covert operations, but the country is nothing like Afghanistan, where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Ladenâs Islamic militants were welcomed and worked unhindered, establishing large training camps. Somaliaâs clan-based society is deeply Islamic, but the vast majority of Somalis follow Sufism, which is vehemently opposed to al-Qaidaâs militant, politically infused interpretation of Islam. The Sunnis and the Shiites both hate the Sufiâs. As a result, the warlords who run the country, drawing support and gunmen from their clans, are decidedly secular in their politics. "Itâs nothing personal, Abdulla. Just business." While German reconnaissance planes and German and U.S. warships patrol the coastline, U.S. officials have tried to get a presence on the ground by capitalizing on the warlordsâ lack of religious zeal and need for cash. Money talks, and we have the money. And while most Somalis reject Islamic extremism, there are militants in Somalia. Al-Ittihad al-Islami, listed by the United States as a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida, does openly operate as a religious organization, though its members publicly renounce violence. Yeah, I know. R.O.P. Abdiqasim Hassan Salad, who led a failed transitional government and is attempting to form a new one, said small numbers of terrorists may be in Somalia. "That doesnât mean that Somalia canât become a terrorist playground," he said. "We need the help of the United States of America." "No checks. Cash or gold bars, please." |
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East/Subsaharan Africa |
Kenya was warned before attacks... |
2002-12-04 |
The Kenyan Daily Nation reported yesterday that Kenyan security forces knew terrorists were planning to carry out an attack in a coastal area and that a bomb had been smuggled into the country. The warnings were sent in March 2002 to senior military officials, the police and intelligence organizations, the report said. The Kenyan Interior Ministry has denied receiving warning of an impending attack. The newspaper quoted sources as saying that the first warning was received on March 11 and referred to the Al-Ittihad al-Islami organization, affiliated with Al-Qaida, and it was planning to attack western targets in Kenya. The second warning came the following day, and said that six explosives experts had left Somalia for Kenya to attack U.S., British and German targets on the Kenyan coast. The third warning was received on March 27. The fourth and last warning was received the following day and said that the two terrorists were on their way to Kenya. Authorities had details and photos of the two, believed to have been responsible for last week's deadly terror attack. The problem there is that the warnings were received last March. That's eight months ago. Think real hard, and you still won't be able to remember which other warnings were issued in March, even if you're in the security business. The number of false alarms that come out also makes things harder. The Kenyans denying they ever got the warnings is just silliness on their part. |
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East/Subsaharan Africa |
SAMs may have come from Somalia... |
2002-12-02 |
WESTERN intelligence agencies have identified Somalia as the most likely source of two Sam-7 missiles fired at the Israeli-chartered jet minutes after it left Mombasa airport last Thursday. It was also the main entry point into Kenya of the suicide bombers of the Hotel Paradise. âThose types of Chinese-made Sams are easily purchased in Mogadishu and the rest of southern Somalia. It is virtually certain they came from there,â Moustafa Hassouna, an authority on the threat posed by terrorist groups in East Africa, said. But... But... That guy in al-Guardian said not to blame them. You don't mean he's full of something, do you? Dr Hassouna, an Egyptian who advises the United Nations on regional security issues, and others said that al-Qaeda had maintained a robust network in the Horn of Africa since the 1998 bombing of the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, which killed more than 200 people. âSome come in under the guise of refugees, others just slip over the border somewhere. There are so many ways in. I canât see how the Kenyan police could possibly control it,â he said. Obviously they can't. It's like living next door to the family with 14 unruly kids, the one with the car up on blocks out front, where the cops are there every other night... With its level of poverty, several regional conflicts, open borders and corrupt and inefficient governments, experts have long given warning that East Africa could become a âterror centreâ. Camps of impoverished refugees in remote areas provide the perfect breeding grounds for terrorists. For cannon fodder, anyway. There's a difference... Dr Hassouna believes that the missiles missed the aircraft carrying 260 Israeli holidaymakers home only because they had been poorly maintained. âThis was a very close-run thing indeed and shows a high degree of planning and organisation,â he said. And typically Arab levels of maintenance... Somalia is a collapsed state with no effective central government since 1991. It has a long border with Kenya, which is used by Arab refugees, a long, unguarded coastline and more than 100 remote landing strips. Washington is pointing the finger again at Al-Ittihad al-Islamiya (Unity of Islam), a shadowy group that appeared in the country in the late 1980s and gained strength and notoriety in the 1990s after the collapse of the rule of the dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Some experts say that the group, which was financed from Saudi Arabia, ... where else? ... effectively splintered and broke up several years ago. Others maintain that its members have merely gone to ground. Probably they've been absorbed into a seconed-generation organization by now, with the financing coming round-about, rather than directly from the Sodders. FOLLOWUP: A statement released Monday on an Islamic Web site said that Al Qaeda was behind the deadly dual attacks on Israelis in Kenya last week. The 5-page claim on www.azfalrasas.com was made in the name of "The Political Office of Al Qaeda Jihad Organization." It called the Nov. 28 attacks a Ramadan greeting to the Palestinian people and referred to the Al Qaeda attacks against U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 231 people â including 12 Americans â and wounded more than 5,000. "At the same place where the 'Jewish Crusader coalition' was hit four years ago ... here the fighters ... came back once again to strike heavily against that evil coalition," the statement said. "But this time, it was against Jews..." Does that mean we can go back to looking for the usual suspects now? |
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The Alliance |
Al-Qaeda cells may be in Somalia. Wotta surprise. |
2001-12-13 |
"You may expect a visit from 10,000 helpful United States troops within the near future. Please extend them every cooperation or they will kill you." |
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