Sunday, December 8, 2013

Somalia:Dam Jadid makes Special Forces operating like Al-Shabab style in Mogadishu- Suna

Mogadishu {Waagacusub.net} Dam Jadid Islamist group made specially trained forces who are over 500 soldiers and were named Ruhanta according to the reports.
Ruhanta are part of the Somali National Security Forces, they operate such Al-Shabab security personnel style namely Amniyat.
Dam Jadid’s soldiers have killed five officials in the past two months including Mohamed Warsame Faysal, a member of the Somali federal parliament who was assassinated yesterday.
The assassinated figures were all dissatisfied with Dam Jadid’s policy.
Ruhanta, the Special Forces take orders from acting state minister of the Somali presidency, Farah Sh. Abdukadir and Qatar state pay their rights as government sources told Wagacusub Media.
The religious group of Dam Jadid emerged in 2011 and they are like Al-Shabab militants who were heard in 2006 and performed mass killing in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Islamist Damu Jadiid who more danger than Al-Shabaab is ruling party
in Somalia.
By Dahir Alasow

Somalia: Ethiopian troops reach Bakool region town of El Barde - Garowe Online

HUDUR, Somalia Dec.7, 2013 (Garowe Online)-Ethiopian troops in battle tanks reached Bakool regional district of El Barde in the early hours of Saturday morning according to witnesses, Garowe Online reports.
Local reports say that Ethiopians entered the town with armored fighting vehicles and infantry divisions from different directions.
The move seems response to plea by Somali Federal Government officials in the region who recently stressed the need for heavily-equipped battalions to liberate Al Shabaab-held areas.
Unlike El Barde ,Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab militants still maintain presence in the other districts of Bakool region of southern Somalia.
Ethiopian forces moved into Beled Hawo town of Gedo region in October to resolve grudges that degenerated into deadly battles between Somali Government troops and Ahlu Sunah Wal Jamea militias.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemarium Deselegn has so far confirmed that his troops will join African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in an effort to dwindle Al Shabaab threats to the horn of Africa country and the region at large.
Ethiopian troops intervened southern Somalia in Dec-2006 and withdrew by Jan, 2009 but returned to Gedo, Hiran, Bay, Galgaduud and Bakool border regions in early 2012 in support of Somali government's stabilization operations.

GAROWE ONLINE

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Conference in Minneapolis Shed Light on Ogaden Human Rights Issues


ONLF Miniessota conference participantsONLF Miniessota conference participants
By: Mohamed Farah
Somalilandsun - Somali Ogaden community in Minneapolis USA, held a meeting to discuss about the situation of Human right in Ogaden, eastern part of Ethiopia, where conflict ravaged since 1995.
The meeting titled on "ignored genocide in Ogaden" has been participated by elders, Youth and women. The Participants are among also, International, Journalist, researchers and well-known US Politicians and congressmen.
The conference shed on a light the disastrous events took place in Ogaden since 2007, according to source, a victims of rape who are living in USA resettled by UNHCR, United nation high commissioner of Refugee have reported many cases happened in Ogaden accusing Ethiopian Troops stationed in Ogaden Region.
Visual presentation about Human Right situation in Ogaden which women and children are main victims are addressed.
The Ogaden people believe in that International community ignored the genocide taking place in their home, and calling for the donors of Ethiopia to take a serious action to prevent further human right abuses.
ONLF Conference delegatesONLF Conference delegates
Last month, a group of Ogaden Journalists based in London presented Video about rape, and forced displacement of locals by the government of Ethiopia.
On August 2011 an undercover investigation by the Bureau and the BBC's Newsnight provided new evidence of ongoing brutal human rights abuses by Ethiopian government forces.
Ogaden, is a no-go zone for foreigners, the media and aid agencies. Instead, it is kept under strict Ethiopian government control, making it difficult to assess what is going on.
Many doubts what Ethiopia government is hiding in Ogaden despite, the government of Ethiopia denies the widely accusations.
Ethiopia government labels its opposition as terrorist group, a move widely criticized by the right organizations and donors.
The region has witnessed political instability last two decades and many thousands fled their homes and seek asylum in the neighboring countries, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti.
After years of human rights abuses in Ogaden region without international independent investigation, Ogaden region seems to finally have a good news story. Sweden will be the first European country that is investigating what Swedish Prosecutors say a serious human rights abuses committed at Ogaden region.
Participants follow ONLF conference proceedings keenlyParticipants follow ONLF conference proceedings keenly
In 2007, Ethiopia crackdown against insurgent of ONLF, Ogaden National Liberation Front, a group fighting for self-determination of Ogaden region has left thousands of Ogaden civilians who are mainly women and children.
The past few days the region has seen an increase in heavy fighting.
Since 2005, Ethiopia government isolated Ogaden region from the World, Ethiopia imposed a ban all international aid and media organizations in Ogaden despite some are operating under the permit of intelligence surveillances.
Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) fighting for the self-determination of Ogaden Region in Ethiopia since 1994.
Ogadentoday Press

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Police Station Is Attacked by the Shabab in Somalia - NYTimes.com


MOGADISHU, Somalia — Attackers from the Shabab militant group assaulted a police station in a Somali town north of Mogadishu on Tuesday, leaving at least 28 people dead and scores more wounded.
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Witnesses said a Toyota pickup truck tried to pass through the gate of a police station in the town of Beledweyne, near the Ethiopian border, but the truck was blocked by African Union forces. The attackers then detonated explosives inside the vehicle.
After the explosion, witnesses said, armed Shabab fighters entered the station and engaged in a shootout with the police. A Somali government spokesman, Abdirahman Omar Osman, said that in all, 11 officers and 7 civilians were killed in the attack, along with 10 militants who died either in the explosion or in the ensuing gun battle.
A spokesman for the Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. Just two months ago, the group said it was behind the deadly siege at the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, which left more than 60 people dead and thrust the Somali militants back into focus as a dangerous, cross-border threat.
International efforts to combat the group have only escalated since then. The United States military carried out a missile strike against a top Shabab operative in Somalia last month. Shortly thereafter, the Kenyan military also conducted airstrikes against a militant training camp run by the group.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council authorized an increase of more than 4,000 peacekeepers to aid in the fight against the Shabab, which will bring the total number of African peacekeepers in Somalia to more than 22,000 while expanding logistical support for the force.
The scene Tuesday was reminiscent of a devastating attack on the United Nations compound in Mogadishu in June, in which armed gunmen stormed the building after a bomb blast in a pickup truck. The assault on the police station came just a month after the Shabab attacked a cafe in Beledweyne frequented by African Union soldiers.
One witness to Tuesday’s attack, Abdi Ali, said he saw at least 10 bodies inside the police station. Another witness, Abdullahi Mose, said he saw at least four other bodies outside the police station killed by the explosion of the truck.
The Shabab rose to power as a nationalist movement resisting the United States-backedEthiopian invasion of Somalia in 2006. It claimed control of large areas of the country, including Mogadishu, but Somali troops and African Union forces have forced it back in recent years.
Both African Union peacekeepers and Somali forces “have paid a heavy price for their brave role in stabilizing Somalia,” President Hassan Sheik Mohamud said in a statement after the attack.
“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,” he said.
A spokesman for the Shabab, Abdiaziz Abu Musab, said in a telephone interview that the attackers “were told to enter the building and basically took over the building and there were a lot of casualties.”
Mr. Musab said 18 African Union soldiers from Djibouti and 23 Somali officers were killed but no civilians. The Shabab often give higher death tolls in the wake of such attacks than the numbers cited by Somali or African Union officials.
“Whenever we get a chance to attack anytime, we’re going to do it,” Mr. Musab said. “There’s an enemy in the area. This is our country. This is our land. We have to banish them.”

Mohammed Ibrahim reported from Mogadishu, and Nicholas Kulish from Nairobi, Kenya.
'via Blog this'

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Ethiopia: Civilian killings and arrests in Ogaden Region- Reports  | Somalilandpress.com | Somali News Online from Somaliland – Somalia and Horn of Africa


11 November 2013
According to reports that Ogadentoday Press has received from an independent sources in Ogaden, civilian crack down are taking place in different zones in Ogaden, a region in eastern Ethiopia where conflict ravaged since 1994.
Sources close to the Ogaden regional administration that refused to be named told Ogadentoday Press 12 persons have been killed by the regional Paramilitary forces, locally known Liyu Police.
An estimated hundreds have been arrested in last week In Ogaden towns of Godey, Shilaabo, Kebridahar, Dhagaxbuur, Jigjiga and Fik.
Ogadentoday Press has received some of the list arrested and killed.
The detainees have no access of the legal rights and mostly are accused of pro- rebel group of ONLF, Ogaden National Liberation Front fighting for self- determination of Ogaden Region in eastern Ethiopia.
Locals say, the government using harsh crack down and every one fears for his life and security.
ONLF, one of Ethiopian rebel groups, fighting for self determination of Ogaden Region issued last week a statement accusing for the government human right abuses in the region.
Peace talks between ONLF and Ethiopian government stalled on October 2012 but still there are diplomatic efforts to resume again negotiations.
Regional administration is preparing to held Ethiopia’s Nations’, Nationalities’ and Peoples’ Day in Jigjiga.
The government of Ethiopia puts its security alert high last week.
Ethiopian Paramilitary Forces have long accused of human right abuses in Ogaden Region but Ethiopia denies the accusations.
Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen and his delegation have visited recently the area for investment.
Since 2005, Ethiopia government isolated Ogaden region from the World, Ethiopia imposed a ban all international aid and media organizations in Ogaden despite some are operating under the permit of intelligence surveillances.
Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) fighting for the self-determination of Ogaden Region in Ethiopia since 1994. 

Monday, November 11, 2013

Kenya Set to Repatriate 1 Million Somali Refugees-Prensa Latina News Agency


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Imagen activaNairobi, 10 Nov (Prensa Latina )The Kenyan government will repatriate 1 million Somali refugees living in refugee camps in the northern region under a tripartite agreement to be inked in Nairobi on Sunday.
Deputy President William Ruto said in a statement on Saturday that the East African nation had borne the brunt of terrorism and welcomed Ethiopia''s decision to join Africa Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in order to fight terrorism.

"As part of a campaign to eliminate the threat of terror, an estimated 1 million Somali refugees would be repatriated under an agreement to be signed in Nairobi on Sunday," Ruto said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

"Recently we had a terror attack ... and we welcome every effort to fight terror," said Ruto citing the recent terror attack on the Westgate shopping mall in which at least 67 people were killed and 175 others wounded.

Kenya hosts an estimated 650,000 refugees from the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region. Somali refugees in Kenya are estimated at 500,000 and the number has increased due to turmoil and recurrent droughts in the Horn of Africa state.

The country been torn asunder by factional fighting since 1991 but has recently made progress in stability.

The conflict has left some 1.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and over 1 million more living in exile in neighboring countries, mostly in Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.

Ruto said the repatriation program is being undertaken by the Kenyan and Somali governments together with the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

During the meeting, he said Ethiopian troops will join AMISOM as part of renewed efforts to combat terrorism in the Horn of Africa region.

Kenya has reiterated its strong commitment to continue working with the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union, the United Nations and the rest of the international community to protect the hard-won gains towards peace and security for the people of Somalia and the region.

sgl/ro/mt
Modificado el ( domingo, 10 de noviembre de 2013 )

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Somaliland: Ethiopia’s Zone 5 Delegation Conclude Official Working Visit

Gen Tesfaye (L) entertains zone 5 delegation in HargeisaGen Tesfaye (L) entertains zone 5 delegation in Hargeisa
By: Mahmud Walaleye
Somalilandsun - A delegation from Ethiopia's Somali Regional State concluded its visit in Somaliland on Sunday 20 October 2013 where they made discussions and set workable directions for future cooperation including on security.
The delegation made discussions with highest officials of a number of Somaliland institutions including the Somaliland Office of Presidency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior and members of Ethiopian Somali community residing in Hargeisa.
The discussions were made as part of the agreement reached between the Government of Ethiopia and Somaliland administration to exchange regular meetings, exchange views and put in place workable directions which will help strengthen the overall cooperation between the two sides. Other understandings existing between the two sides include extradition of criminals and on trade expansion. Further negotiations are continuing to sign a more complete and comprehensive trade agreement.
Among the discussions include the current security situation in the region and at common borders and both sides have agreed to maintain the exchange of frequent visits and the convening of regular meetings at all levels so as to exchange information, evaluate implementation performances and define fitting plans based on present and future situations on the ground. Accordingly, an understanding has been reached to convene joint meetings between security experts and police forces at every shortest possible time.
Other security matters discussed include the importance of exercising maximum vigilance against common enemies who are trying to hide themselves among the peaceful and trying to make damage Somaliland and infiltrate into Ethiopia to make havoc. The delegation which noted the reliable and coordinated security arrangements being put in place to ensure the peaceful celebration of the approaching Ethiopian Peoples, Nations and Nationalities day in Jigjiga also briefed the Somaliland side on arrangements requiring their collaboration as well as communication to their public to be aware of that.
Zone 5 Delegation arrival in HargeisaZone 5 Delegation arrival in Hargeisa
According to Somalilandsun and Ogaal sources On Eritrea, the delegation explained about the availability of credible evidences on Eritrea's continuation of orchestrating anti-Ethiopian plots. The regime in Eritrea is currently infiltrating trained destabilizing forces into Somaliland and other parts of Somalia. Among their missions include organizing themselves here and cross into Ethiopia to create havoc whenever they find any opportunity and maintaining their support to members of al-shabaab and other extremist elements that are now becoming the weakest of all the times but still striving to revive again.
The Ethiopian delegation while noting Ethiopia's strongest capacity of containing and eliminating any major orchestrations of disruptions at their earliest stages also pointed out the importance of continuous follow up and proper information exchange and of taking coordinated measures against them when deemed necessary.
Discussions with members of Ethiopian Somali community residing in Hargeisa focused on ways of addressing their challenges and supporting them to be part of their country's development and renaissance. The Consulate General office has always been ready in rendering any possible support and facilitation to the Ethiopian community in Hargeisa. As part of its effort to address their challenges, mobilize their active participation in their country's stability and development and ensure their benefit, the office is planning to convene a discussion session with Ethiopian communities residing in Hargeisa and its surroundings shortly with plans to follow suit in other parts of Somaliland.
Members of the delegation also exchanged views with staffs of Ethiopia's Consulate General Office in Hargeisa on Saturday 19th of October 2013 about the outcomes of the discussions and on the agreed-upon future directions. Head of Ethiopia's Consulate General in Hargeisa- Somaliland, Brigadier General Berhe Tesfay who noted the strong cooperation that exist between Ethiopia and Somaliland on matters pertaining to security, infrastructure, trade, investment as well as other political and social affairs such as education and health also pointed out Ethiopia's readiness to transform the relation into a strategic partnership. He said Ethiopia has always been supporting efforts aimed at ensuring mutual peace, stability and prosperity including in Somaliland. It has provided and continues to provide capacity building and other security and political supports to the Somaliland administration and people.
Ethiopia has also been advocating consistently and pushing the international community to encourage the peaceful settlement of any internal outstanding issues on one hand but also to consider special arrangements of providing development support to regions with relative peace and stability such as Somaliland in a way whereby mutual accountability would be ensured. In light of this, it has been a very welcome development to see the endorsement by the international community of a Special Arrangement for Somaliland (SSA) in a meeting held recently in Brussels. The arrangement would pave the way for the international community to support the Somaliland National Development Plan through the Somaliland Development Bank established in 2012 through the support of the UK and Danish which is being operational. Ethiopia will in fact continue pursuing its diplomatic engagement which will help to ensure peace and stability in the region including in Somaliland. It will continue its meaningful cooperation with the Somaliland government in as many focal areas as possible based on priorities identified by the administration. The proper delivery of promises Special Arrangement for Somaliland (SSA) would be paramount importance in improving major social services.
Articles related to the zone five's delegation visit to Somaliland

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Military Strike Reported in Southern Somali Town - ABC News

By ABDI GULED and JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press

Foreign military forces carried out a pre-dawn strike Saturday against foreign fighters in the same southern Somalia village where U.S. Navy SEALS four years ago killed a most-wanted al-Qaida operative, officials said.
The strike was carried out in the town of Barawe in the hours before morning prayers against what one official said were "high-profile" targets. The strike comes exactly two weeks after al-Shabab militants attacked Nairobi's Westgate Mall, a four-day terrorist assault that killed at least 67 people in neighboring Kenya.
The leader of al-Shabab, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Ahmed Godane, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in retaliation for Kenya's military deployment inside Somalia.
A resident of Barawe — a seaside town 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Mogadishu — said by telephone that heavy gunfire woke up residents before dawn prayers. An al-Shabab fighter who gave his name as Abu Mohamed said "foreign" soldiers attacked a house, prompting militants to rush to the scene to capture a foreign soldier. Mohamed said that effort was not successful.
The foreign troops attacked a two-story house close to the beach in Barawe, battling their way inside, said Mohamed, who said he had visited the scene of the attack. Foreign fighters resided in the house, Mohamed said. Al-Shabab has a formal alliance with al-Qaida, and hundreds of foreign fighters from the U.S., Britain and Middle Eastern countries are known to fight alongside Somali members of al-Shabab.
A Somalia intelligence official said the targets of the raid were "high-profile" foreigners in the house. The intelligence official also said the strike was carried out by a foreign military. Somalia's nascent army does not have the ability to carry out a stealth night-time strike. A second intelligence official also confirmed the attack. Both insisted on anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Foreign militaries — often the U.S. but not always — have carried out several strikes inside Somalia in recent years against al-Shabab or al-Qaida leaders, as well as criminal kidnappers.
A Western intelligence official said it appeared likely that either U.S. or French forces carried out the attack. The official insisted on anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Another resident of Barawe, who gave his name as Mohamed Bile, said militants in Barawe closed down the town in the hours after the assault, and that all traffic and movements have been restricted. Militants were carrying out house-to-house searches, likely to find evidence that a spy had given intelligence to a foreign power used to launch the attack, he said.
"We woke up to find al-Shabab fighters had sealed off the area and their hospital is also inaccessible," Bile told The Associated Press by phone. "The town is in a tense mood."
In September 2009 a daylight commando raid carried out by Navy SEALs in Barawe killed six people, including Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, one of the most-wanted al-Qaida operatives in the region and an alleged plotter in the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed more than 250 people.
Military raids carried out by troops on the ground carry the risk of a troops being killed or captured, but they also allow the forces to collect bodies or other material as evidence. Missile strikes from sea of unmanned drones carry less risk to troops but increase the chances of accidental civilian deaths.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Somali opposition groups ally - 13 Sept 07 (+playlist)

Somalis still leaving Minn. to join terror group

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Leaders of the nation's largest Somali community say some of their young men are still being enticed to join the terror group that has claimed responsibility for the deadly mall attack in Kenya, despite a concentrated effort to shut off what authorities call a "deadly pipeline" of men and money.
Six years have passed since Somali-American fighters began leaving Minnesota to become part of al-Shabab. Now the Somali community is dismayed over reports that a few of its own might have been involved in the violence at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi.
"One thing I know is the fear is growing," said Abdirizak Bihi, whose nephew was among at least six men from Minnesota who have died in Somalia. More are presumed dead.
Since 2007, at least 22 young men have left Minnesota to join al-Shabab, including two who did so last summer. Unconfirmed reports that two more left earlier this month have deepened concerns.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Tuesday that initial reports had suggested a British woman and two or three American citizens may have been involved in the attack. But neither Kenyan authorities nor the Minneapolis FBI office had any confirmation.
Minnesota's Somali community, concentrated in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, includes people who fled the long civil war in their east African homeland and children born in the U.S. Many are now American citizens.
The movement of Somalis who've come to be known as "travelers" remains "a priority investigation for the Minneapolis office," FBI Special Agent Kyle Loven said.
At least 18 men and three women have been charged in the ongoing Minnesota investigation. Some went to Somalia while others were accused of aiding the effort mainly by raising money.
Seven men pleaded guilty to various charges. One man was convicted on terrorism-related charges last year. Two women were convicted in 2011 of being fundraisers for al-Shabab. A third woman pleaded guilty last month to lying to a grand jury. The other defendants remain at large, or are confirmed or presumed dead.
Al-Shabab means "The Youth" in Arabic. The group uses a mixture of religion, nationalism and deception to lure young people, said Omar Jamal, a longtime local activist who now serves as the first secretary for the Somali mission to the United Nations.
"They misinform people, and they target young, impressionable kids," Jamal said. "They literally brainwash them. It's a very dangerous cult."
Al-Shabab's local recruitment efforts began in 2007 when small groups began discussing returning home to fight Ethiopian troops who entered Somalia to prop up a weak U.N.-backed government and were seen by many Somalis as foreign invaders. The recruiters aimed their appeal at the young men's patriotic and religious ideals.
Ethiopian troops pulled out of Somalia in 2009, but al-Shabab kept up its fight for power. According to Valentina Soria, a security analyst with London-based IHS Jane's, al-Shabab has increasingly focused in the past three years on the recruitment of western nationals and members of the Somali diaspora in the U.S. and Europe to offset its declining domestic support.
Anders Folk was an assistant U.S. attorney in Minneapolis for several years of the recruiting investigation before leaving for private practice. Al-Shabab's recruiting was at least as effective after the Ethiopians left as before, he said.
"Al Shabab's recruiting technique was essentially a call to jihad, that this is a religious duty," Folk said. "It was a call to jihad to come and fight."
Internet videos are a major tool for the group. Many feature scenes of men with covered faces firing automatic weapons, marching or practicing martial arts, as well as images of dead bodies and religious documents. Some show English-speaking suicide bombers reciting last wills.
The group often appeals young men who've had trouble assimilating into American life, perhaps because they are unable to get a job, dropped out of school or got involved in gangs, Jamal said.
He cited a recently released al-Shabab propaganda video that lauded three "Minnesotan martyrs," including the American-born non-Somali Troy Kastigar, a convert to Islam.
Smiling and laughing in the footage, Kastigar called his battle experiences "the real Disneyland" and urged other Muslims to come and "take pleasure in this fun." He was killed in 2009 in Mogadishu, according to the video.
The recruiters masquerade "as people who are there for you at your lowest point," said Abdul Mohamed, a spokesman for Ka Joog, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit whose name means "stay away," which works to provide positive alternatives for Somali youth through education, the arts and mentorship.
"Instead of shying away from this issue and letting it separate us, it's best if we take it on headstrong and steadfast so in the future we can prevent it from happening," Mohamed said. "At the end of the day, these kids are full of potential."
Associated Press writer Amy Forliti contributed to this report from New York.

Ethiopia: Somalia’s Al-Shabaab poses no threat to international security - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
September 25, 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia on Wednesday dismissed concerns by some opposition groups that the horn of Africa nation could be Al-Shabaab’s next terror target.
After Al-Shabaab’s four-day attack on a shopping mall in the Kenyan capital,Nairobi, Ethiopian opposition officials told Sudan Tribune that the country could be the group’s next unless Ethiopian troops quits its long-standing military intervention in Somalia.
These concerns, however, have been dismissed by a senior government official in Addis Ababa.
“Al-Shabaab is a peace threat, although the level of threat it poses might vary. However the terrorist group poses no imminent threat to the country’s national security”, Dina Mufti, the spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs, told Sudan Tribune.
“Our defense force and intelligence are capable enough to defend their country and there is no reason [for] the public should be worried” he added.
The government official reaffirmed that Ethiopia will continue to keep its troops in Somalia until Al-Shabaab is weakened and a sustainable peace and security is maintained.
Mufti further stressed a need for members of the East African block IGAD - the Intergovernmental Authority on Development - to closely and jointly work to curb such terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s minister of foreign affairs, Tedros Adhanom, extended his deepest condolences to the people and government of Kenya over the killing of civilians.
"Ethiopia, as the current Chair of the African Union, is committed to play a leading role in coordinating other African countries in the fight against terrorism” Adhanom said.
Ethiopia, which is a regional security partner of the United States government, on Tuesday offered to support the Kenyan government in hunting down perpetrators of the attack.
The Kenyan government said today that six of the attackers were killed and nine others were taken to custody.
The Al-Qaeda-allied Al-Shabaab fighters attack at Shopping mall in Nairobi has left at least 61 civilians killed and six members of the security forces.
Some 200 civilians are said to have been wounded in the four-day siege.
Kenya on Wednesday began three days of national mourning.
(ST)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

US Battles Shabab In Somalia Through A Complex Web Of Covert Proxies - Business Insider

Instead of directly attacking Somalia's Shebab militants, the United States provides crucial intelligence and training to other armies battling the Islamists in a deliberately low-profile approach, officials said Tuesday.
A bloody four-day siege of a Nairobi shopping mall claimed by Shebab has focused attention on US-backed efforts to weaken the insurgents, which American officials claim have been effective despite the attack over the weekend.
From airfields stretching from Djibouti to Entebbe, the US military and intelligence agencies fly surveillance drones to track Shebab's movements while American special operations forces have taught tactics to troops from Kenya, Ethiopia and the Somali government, officials and experts say.
"It is definitely a light footprint approach," Seth Jones, a former adviser to special operations commanders in Afghanistan and the Pentagon, told AFP.
"The US presence has been minimal, overtly anyway," said Jones, an author of books on insurgencies and terrorism.
The intelligence handed over to regional allies, rather than a modest amount of military hardware, represents the most important part of the assistance, he said.
"The US does collect a lot of information and passes it along."
Defense officials believe "indirect" methods have proved a success, and that the Nairobi attack was partly an attempt by the group to grab headlines and retaliate for battlefield defeats in Somalia.
"Not long ago, the government of Somalia controlled only a few blocks in Mogadishu and now they have control over a large area in southern Somalia," said a US military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Shebab is definitely "under pressure" but "they're clearly not gone," the officer said.
President Barack Obama's administration has no plans to dramatically change its policy and move towards drone strikes or raids by special forces, officials said.
Since Al-Qaeda's bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attacks of September 11, 2001, the US military began building up a logistical network across East Africa, arranging access to airfields and ports with a base in Djibouti serving as the main hub.
About 3,000 troops are deployed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, which oversees training by special forces and other military assistance in the region.
Another 150 US military personnel are currently in Kenya, including trainers, while a similar number are posted in Ethiopia, defense officials said.
The Pentagon spends hundreds of millions of dollars in support of the African Union mission in Somalia offering logistical help, equipment, training and troop transport.
After 9/11, the US military created a joint task force in East Africa with a "capture or kill" mission. But drone strikes and special forces' raids gradually gave way to advising and assisting Somalia's neighbors.
Unlike Pakistan or Yemen, drone strikes targeting Al-Qaeda linked militants in Somalia have been the rare exception.
Washington has preferred to work behind the scenes partly because a big footprint would produce a backlash and invite comparisons to the troubled US deployment in Somalia in the 1990s.
"The US role in Somalia is definitely problematic. The US has a history in Somalia, some of it's good, some of it's not so good," Jones said.
The attack in Nairobi, which killed 61 civilians, coupled with Shebab's recruitment of Americans of Somali heritage, prompted calls from some US lawmakers for the United States to go after the militants with American firepower.
But the Obama administration will be reluctant to change its strategy unless there is a clear sign that Shebab poses an imminent threat to US embassies in the region or that its American recruits are heading back to the United States to stage attacks, experts said.
The fact that some of the attackers were US nationals raises the "level of concern" for Washington, "in part because there's always a concern that they will come back to the United States and stage attacks here," said Kim Cragin, who has written about terror threats and religious extremism.
There has been a debate "over whether Shebab has been in its last gasp or whether it can rebound from the setbacks," said Cragin, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation think tank.
The Nairobi assault indicates the group cannot be counted out just yet, she said.
With access to airfields in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia, ports in Kenya, and other forces based in Sigonella, Italy, the US administration has a network at the ready if it chooses to fight.
This post originally appeared at Agence France Presse. Copyright 2013.


Read more:http://www.businessinsider.com/us-battles-shabab-in-somalia-through-a-complex-web-of-covert-proxies-2013-9#ixzz2fyicN9zd

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Kenya Long Seen as Key Israeli Ally in Troubled Region — Naharnet


إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
W460
Israel, which is said to have aided Kenya during the deadly attack on a Nairobi mall, has long viewed East Africa as a region of major strategic and economic importance.
"Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea are three countries which are crucial for Israel because they act as a buffer zone in a region which is seeing Islamic fundamentalism growing at a rapid pace," said Galia Sabar, head of African studies at Tel Aviv University.
As part of the Horn of Africa, both Ethiopia and Eritrea have access to the Red Sea, which is strategically and economically important to the Jewish state, she said.
"The Horn of Africa is important for Israel's economic interests, including trade with Asia through the Red Sea," agreed Dr Eli Karmon of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya near Tel Aviv.
Kenya has meanwhile enjoyed a particularly close and diversified relationship with the Jewish state since the two countries established formal ties exactly 50 years ago, Sabar told Agence France Presse.
"Since Kenyan independence in 1963, Israel has had a very close relationship with this country in sectors as diverse as agriculture, education, security, military and intelligence," she said.
"What is unique (about this relationship) and makes it so intense, is that it extends into so many different areas than just one, as tends to be the case with Israel's relationship with other countries."
Figures provided by the Israel Export Institute show that trade between the two countries reached $139 million in 2012 and accounted for 8.0 percent of Israel's entire trade with Africa.
"Over the last 15 or so years, with the establishment of al-Qaida in east Africa, notably in Somalia, Kenya turned into a bastion for the fight against Islamist fundamentalism, not only for Israel but for the West," Sabar said.
The two countries' cooperation on security matters goes back decades.
"The peak of cooperation between Israel and Kenya was during Operation Entebbe in 1976," security expert Yossi Melman told AFP, referring to a hostage rescue operation mounted by Israeli commandos to free passengers aboard an Air France jet hijacked by Palestinian militants.
At the time, a Kenyan official managed to convince Nairobi to allow agents from Israel's Mossad spy service to collect information ahead of the rescue bid, and later paved the way for Israeli air force planes to refuel at Nairobi airport in the wake of the raid, he said.
Two decades later, cooperation deepened considerably after the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania claimed by al-Qaida, which "set off a warning light for Israeli intelligence regarding the terror threat in Africa," wrote Barak Ravid in Monday's Haaretz newspaper.
In 2002 there was a direct attack on Israeli interests in Kenya in the form of an al-Qaida-linked bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa, and a subsequent attempt the same day to shoot down an Israeli airliner taking off from the port city.
The two attacks "turned the warning light into a real alarm bell," Ravid wrote.
Earlier this year, a Kenyan court jailed two Iranians for life after convicting them on charges of plotting bomb attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa. Israeli agents were reportedly involved in their interrogation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused arch-foe Tehran of planning to attack Israeli targets in Kenya.
On Sunday, a security source in Nairobi told AFP that Israeli forces were directly involved in Kenyan efforts to end the deadly siege on the Westgate Mall by Somali militants.
But Israel's foreign ministry has neither confirmed nor denied that its forces were involved, saying that Israeli interests did not appear to have been specifically targeted in the attack which is now in its fourth day and has so far left 65 people dead and around 200 wounded.
"These are only rumors," admitted Melman.
"It is highly unlikely that Israel would send combat troops to a foreign country for a rescue mission," he told AFP.
"On the other hand it is certain that Israelis who have expertise in handling this type of situation, like the Shin Bet (internal security service), the army and the police, have helped the Kenyan government to manage this crisis," he added.

Al-Shabaab's Kenyan Mall sand off organized by Eritrea supported by For...

Friday, September 13, 2013

American, British militant Osama al-Britani killed in Somalia- GlobalPost

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American Omar Hammami and Osama al-Britani, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, are said to have died in an early morning attack in a village southwest of Mogadishu.
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American british militants killed somalia 2013 09 12ENLARGE
An undated photo of Omar Hamami, better known as Abu Mansoor al-Amriki [C] aka "the American," taken at an undisclosed location is seen on a computer screen in Nairobi, Kenya on Feb. 7, 2013. (TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images)
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Two American and British militants who fell out of favor with Al Shabaab are said to have died in an early morning attack near Mogadishu, witnesses say.
Another one of their allies, Egyptian Khadap al-Masari, is said to have surrendered.
American Omar Hammami, known as al-Amriki, and Osama al-Britani, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, had been in hiding since leaving the Islamic militant group linked to Al Qaeda earlier this year, the BBC reported
Hamami -- better known as Al-Amriki or "the American" -- was one of the most prominent foreigners fighting in Somalia but had a falling out with top Al Shabaab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane.
The US State Department had offered a $5 million bounty for Hamami's capture and has a $7 million bounty on Godane's head,according to AFP.
More from GlobalPost: Al Shabaab branches out from Somalia
Amriki, 29, began working for Al Shabaab after moving to Somalia in 2006, recruiting young trainees through his English-language rap songs and videos.
News of the killings comes a day after a group of 160 leading Islamic scholars issued a fatwadenouncing Al Shabab, saying the group had no place in Islam.

Somalia: American Islamist killed in Somalia-witnesses | Somalilandpress.com | Somali News Online from Somaliland – Somalia and Horn of Africa


AlAmriki_afp_130912Abu Mansoor al-Amriki was born just outside Mobile, Alabama, whose real name is Omar Hammami.
MOGADISHU – A US Islamist fighting in Somalia was killed Thursday in a shootout with Al-Qaeda linked Shebab militants, former comrades he had fallen out with, witnesses said.
Alabama-born Omar Hammami – better known as Al-Amriki or “the American” – was one of the most prominent foreigners fighting in Somalia, and the US State Department had offered a US$5 million (S$6.33m) bounty for his capture.
“There was a gun battle between Amriki and his men and other fighters, the reports are that Amriki is among those killed,” said Moalim Ali, a resident in Bardhere, a small settlement in southern Somalia.
Two other extremists were also killed in the battle, including one other foreigner.
There were conflicting reports of the identity, with some reporting he was Egyptian, others suggesting he may have been British or Pakistani.
“Amriki and two other fighters, one of them foreigner, have been killed near Bardhere,” said Mohamed Wardhere, another resident.
Hammami, 29, moved to Somalia in 2006 and began to work for Shebab recruiting young trainees through his English-language rap songs and videos.
But he fell out with top Shebab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, for whom the US has offered US$7 million for.
In June, Shebab fighters loyal to Godane killed two of their own top commanders, prompting Hammami to flee.
Somalia’s Shebab is fractured into multiple rival factions, some based along clan lines and others ideological.
Some are more attracted by a nationalist agenda to oust foreign forces from Somalia, while others – including Godane – are seen as having more global jihadi ambitions.
Source: AFP