Boko Haram Leader Vows More Attacks On Christians | Jih@d

2012/01/15/

by Florian Flade

Imam Abu Bakr Shekau – Boko Haram leader vows more attacks on Nigerian Christians

In 2009 international media for the first time reported about a ominous Islamist group operating in Nigeria – Boko Haram. The group whose name is translated from the Northern Nigerian Hausa language into “Western Eduction is forbidden” carried out a series of attacks, killing dozens of policemen in Christian-dominated regions of Nigeria´s north.

As a result Nigerian security forces took revenge on the Islamists of Boko Haram killing hundreds of the group´s members in and around the city of Maiduguri. Boko Harams leader and founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was captured by security forces. Yusuf had created the Islamist movement in 2002 starting with a network of mosques and Islamic schools to spread Salafi Islam in Nigeria.

Nigerian security forces claimed Mohammed Yusuf was killed during his arrest. Video footage which emerged several days after the raid on Boko Haram showed Mohammed Yusuf alive in custody being interrogated. He was shot dead by Nigerian soldiers and policemen, his body was also seen in videos released later.

Terrorist and Colonial Borders | Terrorism In Africa

Terrorism Africa News

It is possible that Nigeria and Somalia will each be divided into multiple countries during this decade or the next.  I could not be surprised if it happens sooner than later.  Each country is in the midst of violence that was primarily perpetrated by terrorist groups.  In each case the central government is ineffectual in managing security and delivering the needed services to the poorer districts.  If we do witness the partitioning of these countries we will be well on our way to seeing the redrawing of many national boundaries on the continent.

Over the past sixty years African countries have struggled to gain independence from their colonial rulers.  That process took close to fifty years.   South Africa was the last to achieve such a righteous milestone.  Yet, this independence was for countries who borders were set by the colonialists and looked very little like the kingdoms and ethnic domains recognized by Africans for centuries.  The continent may well be on the verge of a redrawing of the demarcations of sovereign states to more accurately represent the realities of the continent.  It could be said that the movement to throw off colonial borders may have begun with the division of Ethiopia, resulting in Ethiopia and Eritrea, followed by Sudan splitting into Sudan and South Sudan.  These divisions were preceded by violent conflicts and referendums.

Al-Shabaab claims to be a jihadist group linked to al-Qaeda with the agenda of placing all of Somalia under Sheria.  Few analysts would differ with that description.  The ability of Al-Shabaab to take control and place all of present day Somalia under Sharia is questionable.  In fact the current struggle in Somalia has spawned several ad-hock meetings of diaspora Somalians who have drawn up plans that would result in Somalia being divided into three countries separated primarily along ethnic or clan lines.

Boko Haram has its genesis and base of operation in the poor, Muslim north of Nigeria.   They have bombed Christian houses of worship, government and United Nations instillations and recently demanded that government troops and southerns leave the north.  Their terrorist operations have brought Nigeria to the brink of civil war. 

Al Shabaab attack Kenyan police camp, kill 7

Image via Wikipedia

By Noor Ali

ISIOLO, Kenya | Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:58am EST

ISIOLO, Kenya

(Reuters) – Somali Islamist rebels stormed a remote police camp in northeastern Kenya, killing seven people and kidnapping three, the militants and Kenyan officials said on Thursday.

Scores of rebel fighters threw grenades and other explosives as they raided the police camp on Wednesday evening in Gerille, a town 7 km (4 miles) from the porous frontier with Somalia, Regional Commissioner Wenslas Ongayo said.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said in a statement there were about 100 suspected al Shabaab attackers and two officials and a member of the public had been abducted.

Kenya has tried to beef up security along the border since it sent troops into the anarchic Horn of Africa country in October to crush the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents.

Al Shabaab said it carried out the raid to avenge the “aggressive Kenyan invasion”.

Gulf of Aden Security Review – December 28, 2011 | Critical Threats

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Yemen: Clashes in Sana’a between the Republican Guard and Hashid tribesmen kill one civilian and injure three others; three al Shabaab militants and six al Qaeda-linked militants reportedly killed by airstrike in Abyan governorate

Horn of Africa: KDF and TFG troops kill 10 al Shabaab militants in Lower Jubba region; Kenyan air raid targets villages in Gedo region in southern Somalia; suspected Somali pirates hijack Italian cargo ship with a crew of 18 off Gulf of Oman

Yemen Security Brief

• Witnesses reported that clashes between the Republican Guard and gunmen loyal to Hashid tribal confederation leader Sheikh Sadiq al Ahmar broke out in Sana’a near the interior ministry in Amran Street in Hasaba neighborhood. One Yemeni civilian was killed and three more were injured. The incident took place when the military commission attempted to remove barriers.[1]

• Suna Times reported that three al Shabaab militants and six al Qaeda-linked militants were killed by an airstrike in Abyan governorate. The Somali consul in Yemen, Hussein Haji Ahmed, confirmed the report.[2]

Horn of Africa Security Brief

• Somali government officials reported that at least 10 al Shabaab militants were killed by Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops in Lower Jubba region in southern Somalia. Witnesses stated that the attack started when al Shabaab militants launched an offensive on a joint KDF-TFG military base in Burgabo in southern Somalia.[3]

Somali Islamists Kill Kenyan Policeman

Monday, December 19, 2011Police in northern Kenya say a suspected landmine blast has killed a police officer and wounded two others at the Dadaab refugee camp.

Authorities said the explosion Monday happened as the officers were traveling in a vehicle.

It is the latest in a series of small-scale attacks that have hit Kenya since the government sent troops into neighboring Somalia to pursue al-Shabab militants. Kenya accuses the al-Qaida-linked fighters of kidnapping foreigners on Kenyan soil.

SomaliaReport: Al-Shabaab to Change Name to Imaarah Islamiyah

By MOHAMED ODOWA, JD 12/05/2011

Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants agreed to change their name to Imaarah Islamiyah (Islamic Authority) after four days of meetings in Baidabo of Bay region, according to al-Shabaab’s senior officers.

A number of senior Islamic leaders attended the meeting including Ali Dhere, Mukhtaar Robow, Fu’ad Shangole and Hassan Dahir Aweys. Ahmed Godane, the only senior leader who did not attend, sent a message in which he reportedly disagreed with the name change. Upon concluding the meeting, the militants released a statement in which they said they plan not only to change their name, but also their tactics, and called on Somalia’s citizens to fight against the government and its allies. “The Transitional Federal Government is not the right government for Muslims. It is from the western enemy and enemy of Allah.

Al-Shabaab bans aid agencies in Somalia and raids offices

Islamic group permanently revokes permission for organisations including Unicef and WHO to work in country amid famine crisis

Monday 28 November 2011 12.21 GMT

A Somali girl joins women queuing for a hot meal at a camp. Al-Shabaab has banned several aid agencies. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Efforts to feed 160,000 severely malnourished children in Somalia have been jeopardised after Islamist rebels banned several UN and international aid agencies, storming their offices in a string of co-ordinated raids.

Al-Shabaab militants, who have imposed a harsh form of sharia law in south and central Somalia, announced on Monday they were banning 16 aid agencies from operating in the anarchic country where tens of thousands of people have died from famine since April.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said its office in the southern city of Baidoa had been occupied, but that all staff were safe.

Kenya Seeks Arab Support Against AQ Linked Somali Terrorists

Monday, November 14, 2011

Kenya is calling for more support from Arab nations to help pursue al-Shabab terrorists who are carrying out attacks near the Kenya-Somalia border.

A top official in Kenya’s Foreign Ministry, Lindsay Kiptiness, says Kenya is trying to gain support from the Arab League and predominantly Muslim nations such as Turkey and Iran that have backed Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government.

Kenya’s military says it is working with TFG forces to eliminate Somalia-based al-Shabab terrorists near the Kenyan border.

Kenya recently launched its military operation in what it deemed an act of self-defense, following several cross-border attacks blamed on Somali militants.

The military says hundreds of al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab terrorists have been killed or wounded since the military incursion began. Five Kenyan soldiers have died.

Kiptiness also says Kenya will be approaching the U.N. Security Council to seek an expansion of the African Union peacekeeping mission, or AMISOM, to cover all of Somalia, not just the capital, Mogadishu.

Kenyan officials have said they will ask AMISOM and forces from Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government to help maintain the peace in southern Somalia when Kenyan troops eventually withdrawal. VoA

via waronterrornews.typepad.com

Related articles

• Kenya: 8 Soldiers Killed Since Somalia Incursion (abcnews.go.com)
• Somali boys escape militia for poverty in Nairobi (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Kenya Asks Arab World for Support in Somalia – Voice of America (voanews.com)
• Kenya: 30 Somalia Insurgency Recruits Take Amnesty (abcnews.go.com)
• Kenya: 30 members of Somali al Shabab accept amnesty (ctv.ca)
• Kenya: 30 Somalia insurgency recruits take amnesty (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Opportunity Costs or Costly Opportunities? The Arab Spring, Osama Bin Laden, and Al-Qaeda’s African Affiliates | Wilner | PDF

Abstract

There is little doubt that Al-Qaeda faces twin challenges in the “Arab Spring” sweeping North Africa and the Middle East (MENA) and in the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Al-Qaeda’s violent narrative has come under immense pressure following the toppling of Arab regimes by largely secular and peaceful protest movements while the removal of bin Laden robs the organization of a charismatic and unifying figure.

Analysis: More gunships may not be the answer.

By Tristan McConnell - GlobalPost

Published: April 14, 2009 06:48 ET
Updated: April 28, 2009 20:05 ET

NAIROBI — After the dramatic rescue of American captain Richard Phillips from the clutches of Somali pirates, U.S. President Barack Obama announced his determination to end piracy: “We remain resolved to halt the rise of piracy in this region,” he said.