Category Archives: Somalia

Al-Shabaab Turns To A More Regional Focus

One month after Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants stormed Kenya’s Westgate shopping centre, killing sixty-seven people during a four-day siege, the threat from the militant group, and local sympathizers, remains high as officials in Somalia and in the African Union (AU) look towards increasing troop numbers in a bid to completely destroy a group which has transformed itself into a regional threat.

Posters reading “if you haven’t learnt the lesson Westgate, more is coming,” which were posted up last week during rallies held in the southern Somali port of Barawe, an al-Shabaab stronghold, confirm what is already going on throughout the country.  Over the past number of months, al-Shabaab has significantly increased its attacks, both within Somalia and near the border regions with Kenya and Ethiopia, both countries which have deployed troops to Somalia in order to combat the militant group.  While these attacks will not stop any time soon, recent remarks made by commanders within the group have indicated that al-Shabaab may increasingly place pressure on those states that have deployed troops in Somalia in a bid to force their withdrawal.

While over the past two years, AMISOM forces throughout Somalia have dislodged al-Shabaab from a number of its strongholds, including from the capital city of Mogadishu and the surrounding regions, as well as from the southern port city of Kismayo, the militant group has continued to carry out assassinations of politicians and journalists along with a number of suicide bombings that have targeted troops and security officials.  While most of the groups‘ previous attacks have typically been small in scale, al-Shabaab has carried out large scale attacks in Somalia and in the region, such as the June 2013 attack on a UN compound in Mogadishu or the 2010 bombings in Kampala which killed seventy-six people.  However this more recent attack on the Nairobi mall has demonstrated a significant and worrying step up in al-Shabaab’s operations, with the group now seemingly increasingly concentrating on attacks that require longer periods of planning and surveillance.  Uganda’s announcement last week that it had increased its security level in the capital city of Kampala, after officials from the US Embassy indicated that they had credible information of a possible terror attack linked to al-Shabaab, also signified that the terrorist group may now increasingly focus on targeting regional interests, especially in those countries which have deployed troops to battle the militant group in Somalia. This recent move may also signify that al-Shabaab is turning its focus from Somalia’s internal politics to a more global agenda, similar to al-Qaeda, which the group is aligned with.

The battle to defeat al-Shabaab will now likely have to concentrate not only within Somalia, but also throughout the wider region, including in the countries that have deployed their armies in Somalia, such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.  While the AU force in Somalia has requested that its size be increased by a quarter, which will amount to 23,000 troops, preventing al-Shabaab from attaining territorial gains within Somalia will not eliminate the group entirely.  A UN report recently indicated that “al-Shabaab continues to pose a regional and international threat through its affiliates,” noting that as AU troops have seized more territory throughout Somalia, there has been an “increasing exodus” of foreign fighters, some of whom left “with the intention of supporting jihad in the region.”  Last week’s announcement that a Norwegian citizen of Somali origin, 23-year-old Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, was suspected of being one of the attackers in the Westgate incident confirmed what United Nations experts have already noted.  That dozens, if not hundreds, of young men from countries across the Horn of Africa travel to Somalia in order to train with al-Shabaab militants.  In turn, it remains unknown whether the Westgate attackers were sent specifically from Somalia, or whether they were a “homegrown” team recruited within Kenya.  Consequently increasingly focusing on fighters coming from Western or Arab nations, along with local sympathizers and groups aligned with al-Shabaab across eastern Africa, will be a necessary step in fighting the militant group.

US Secretary of State Defends Navy Seal Weekend Operations in Somalia and Libya

On Monday, United States Secretary of State John Kerry defended the capture of an alleged al-Qaeda leader who was apprehended on Saturday during two raids that were carried out by US commandos in Libya and Somalia.  The US Secretary of State has indicated that the operations in Libya and Somalia showed that the US would never stop “in its effort to hold those accountable who conduct acts of terror.”

Libya

On Saturday, the Pentagon confirmed that US commandos captured an alleged al-Qaeda leader, Anas al-Libi, who has been suspected of masterminding the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.  His capture was confirmed by his son, Abdullah al-Raghie, who stated that his father was seized by masked gunmen in Tripoli early on Saturday as he was parking outside his house after returning from morning prayers.  He has claimed that the Libyan government was implicated in his father’s disappearance, however officials in Tripoli have denied any involvement.

Amidst calls by officials in Libya on Sunday to receive an explanation pertaining to the special forces raid on its territory, US Secretary of State John Kerry defended the capture, stating on Monday that Anas al-Libi was a “legal and appropriate target.”  Speaking to the media on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Indonesia, the Secretary of State further noted that “with respect to Anas al-Libi, he is a key al-Qaeda figure, and he is a legal and an appropriate target for the US military.”  When questioned whether the United States had informed Libya prior to the raid, Kerry refused to confirm or deny, stating only that “we don’t get into the specifics of our communications with a foreign government on any kind of operation of this kind.”   The operation to capture Libi has drawn fury from the Libyan government, which has since stated that the operation was unauthorized and that Libi had been kidnapped.  Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan’s office has also stated that the Prime Minister has requested full clarification on the raid, stressing that Libya was “keen on prosecuting any Libyan citizen inside Libya.”

According to sources, Anas al-Libi, 49 and whose real name is Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, was married with a daughter and three sons, one of whom was killed in a battle with pro-Kadhafi forces when the rebels entered Tripoli in October 2011.  Libi, a computer specialist, left Libya during the early 1990’s when Kadhafi was cracking down on Islamist groups.  During that time, Libi joined Bin Laden’s terror organization in Sudan and would later follow the group to Afghanistan before securing political asylum in Britain in 2000.  He is believed to have been one of the masterminds behind the 1998 US embassy attacks, which killed more than 200 people in Kenya and Tanzania.  On 7 August 1998, a car bomb explosion outside the American embassy in Nairobi killed 213 people, and wounded 5,000.  Almost simultaneously, a truck laden with explosives detonated outside the US mission in Tanzania, killed 11 people and leaving another 70 wounded.  Al-Qaeda later claimed responsibility for both attacks.  When a US court indicted him in connection with the bombings, he fled to Pakistan.  Sources have indicated that he returned to Libya shortly after the outbreak of the revolt against Kadhafi, and probably would have fought against the rebels who ousted the longtime dictator.

Libi has been on the FBI’s most wanted list for more than a decade with a US $5 million (£3.1 m) bounty on his head.  The raid to capture him came as Western Intelligence agencies increasingly feared that he had been tasked with forming an al-Qaeda network in Libya.  According to a US official, shortly after the raid, Libi was taken to a US Navy warship in the region, where he was being questioned.  This was confirmed by the Pentagon, which stated that he was being “lawfully detained under the law of war in a secure location” outside Libya.  The operation in Tripoli ended a thirteen-year manhunt for Libi who was one of the last remaining high-level operatives from the core terror network that was established by bin Laden in the 1990‘s.  His arrest paves the way for his extradition to New York to face trial.

With authorities and officials in Libya insisting that they were unaware of the US operation, the capture of the senior al-Qaeda militant is definitely an embarrassment for the fledgling government and could result in outrage amongst the country’s Islamist extremists.  While authorities in Libya have been struggling to assert control over the countless numbers of militias that emerged during the 2011 uprising against Moamer Kadhafi, many militias have refused to disarm and effectively now control large portions of the country.  Some of the militias in question include hardline Islamists who have accused the post-Kadhafi government of being too close to the West.  In turn, reactions to his capture in Libya have been mixed, effectively demonstrating the divide in the country amongst Islamists and their secular opponents.

Somalia

While the operation in Libya achieved its objective, it remains unclear whether the raid on a beachfront villa in southern Somalia was a success.

On Saturday, US commandos carried out an operation to capture one of the leaders of al-Shabaab however unconfirmed reports have indicated that SEAL commandos were forced to withdraw before confirming the kill.  Reports have indicated that the mission was aborted after the commandos encountered fierce resistance from al-Shabaab fighters.  The operation, which was carried out by members of SEAL Team Six, the same unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, occured Barawe, which is located 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of the capital city of Mogadishu.  A US official has identified the militant as Ikrima, a Kenyan of Somali origin, however Washington has yet to formally name the intended target.  When asked on Sunday as to whether officials in Somalia had been aware of the raid, Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon Saaid stated that “our co-operation with international partners on fighting against terrorism is not a secret.”

In response to the raid, an al-Shabaab military operations spokesman, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, a fighter was killed during the raid.  Al-Shabaab’s commander in the southern Somali port of Barawe, Mohamed Abu Suleiman, also noted that “the enemy of Allah tried to surprise the mujahedeen commanders with a night attack using a military helicopter, but they were taught a lesson and they have failed.”  Residents of Barawe reported they were woken by heavy gunfire before dawn prayers and some of them saw commandos, presumed to be from a Western nation, rappelling from a helicopter and attempting to storm a house belonging to a senior al-Shabaab commander. Local media has also reported that two helicopters were involved in the raid.  By Saturday morning, residents reported that al-Shabaab militants were heavily deployed on the streets of the town.

The raid comes shortly after al-Shabaab confirmed that it had carried out last month’s attack on the Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, leaving at least sixty-seven people dead.  Sources have indicated that while Ikrimah was not linked to that attack, the raid has prompted fears that the target could be planning a similar assault on other Western targets in the region.

Multiple nations currently operation Special Forces in the wider Horn of Africa region, and many have carried out similar missions in the past.  In recent years, both US and French Special Forces have carried out raids on coastal targets in Somalia.  Last year, US Navy Seals flying at least six military helicopters carried out an operation to rescue two aid workers held by pirates in northern Somalia.  Washington has also used drones in Somalia to support the local government and African Union (AU) forces in their battle against al-Shabaab militants.  And earlier this year, France carried out an unsuccessful raid to free a French intelligence agent.  On 12 January, elite French forces carried out an overnight operation, involving some fifty troops and at least five helicopters, in southern Somalia.  Two French commandos were killed and al-Shabaab later reported that it had killed the agent.  With minimal information being released pertaining to Saturday’s raid, it currently remains unclear whether either of these countries was involved.  Furthermore, Western navies are present in the region, patrolling the seas off Somalia, which has been beset by conflict for more than two decades.  While they have been tasked with fighting piracy, in 2009, US Navy commandos attacked and killed an al-Qaeda leader, Kenyan-born Saleh Ali Nabhan, during a daylight raid on Barawe.

Two al-Shabaab Militants Killed; Religious Scholars in Somalia Denounce al-Shabaab

Witnesses have reported that two Islamists from the United States and the United Kingdom have been killed in a shootout in Somali after falling out with al-Shabaab.  Reports have indicated that Alabama-born Omar Hammami, better known as al-Amriki, along with Osama al-Britani, a British citizen of Pakistani origin, are said to have died in an early-morning attack  on a village located just south-west of the capital city, Mogadishu.  One of al-Amriki’s fighters has indicated that the two men were overpowered by al-Shabaab militants who attacked a village near the town of Dinsor.  He further noted that the militants had taken away the bodies of the two Westerners.  According to the fighter, another of their allies, Khadap al-Masari, originally from Egypt, surrendered while two other extremists, including one foreigner, have also been reportedly killed in the battle however their identities have not been released.  According to sources, the two militants left al-Shabaab after they fell out with the group’s top leader Ahmed Abdi Godane.  The two men are also believed to be allies of veteran Somali Islamist, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Awyes, who split from the militant group in June of this year.  Reports have indicated that since the split, al-Shabaab militants have been hunting down and killing any allies of Awyes.  In June of this year, militants loyal to Godane killed two of their own top commanders; many believe that this prompted al-Amriki and al-Britani to flee and go into hiding.  Awyes is currently in the custody of the UN-backed government.  So far, there have been no comments or confirmations of the two militants‘ deaths from the Somali government, however local residents, along with a senior source within al-Shabaab, have confirmed that the two men are dead.  Al-Amriki was one of the most prominent foreigners fighting in Somalia.  In March of this year, the US State Department offered a US $5m (£3.1m) reward for any information that would lead to his capture  and conviction.   He grew up in the town of Daphne in the state of Alabama, and was supposedly radicalized after a visit to Syria as a teenager.  Over the years, he became an adherent of stricter Islam and moved to Somalia in 2006 where he joined al-Shabaab and became one of the militant group’s senior officials.  There is minimal information about al-Britani.  While officials in the UK have previously stated that they have been aware of the Briton’s presence in Somalia for some time, they have not confirmed his death.

Meanwhile some 160 Somali religious scholars have issued a fatwa, denouncing al-Shabaab, stating that the militant group has no place in Islam.  This is the first time that Somali leaders have pronounced a fatwa against the military group, which continues to control many rural areas throughout the country despite being pushed out of key cities over the past two years.    The announcement was made at a conference in Mogadishu on the phenomenon of extremism where the scholars stated that they condemned al-Shabaab’s use of violence.  The fatwa also comes at a time when residents of central Somalia indicated that al-Shabaab militants executed a young man in the town of Bula Burte and performed a double amputation on another in front of a crowd of several hundred.  One of the aims of the conference was to issue Islamic opinion on whether the group had legitimacy or not, with the final fatwa concluding that it is not an Islamic movement.  Sheikh Hassan Jaamai, an Islamic scholar, stated shortly after the conclusion of the conference that “it’s like a gang that comes together to kill Somalis…without any legitimate reason or justification.”  Sheikh Abdikani, a participant from the Gulf, stated that “the only thing they want is to create chaos in the country so that they can survive,”  it is believed the Sheik was referring to two bomb attacks carried out on a restaurant in central Mogadishu that killed fifteen people on the opening day of the conference.  Al-Shabaab has since confirmed responsibility for the attacks.  Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud opened the government-organized conference, which drew Somali scholars, elders and imams from both within the country and abroad.  At the end of the four-day conference, the seven points of the religious edict included:

• “Al-Shabaab has strayed from the correct path of Islam, leading the Somali people onto the wrong path.  The ideology they are spreading is a danger to the Islamic religion and the existence of the Somali society.”
• “The Somali government is an Islamic administration; it is forbidden to fight against it or regard its members as infidels.”
• “Al-Shabaab, an extremist group, must alone to God and must cease its erroneous ideology and criminal actions.”
• “It is forbidden to join, sympathize or give any kind of support to al-Shabaab.”
• “It is a religious duty to refuse shelter to al-Shabaab members, who must be handed over to Somali institutions responsible for security.”
• “It is a taboo to negotiate on behalf of al-Shabaab members in custody or release them from jail.”
• “Somali officials have a religious duty to protect the Somali people from the atrocities of al-Shabaab.  The Somali public also has an obligation to assist the government in its security operations against al-Shabaab.”

Somali Federal Government Close to Marking its First Anniversary

Nearly one year into its mandate, the internationally-backed government in Somalia continues to struggle as it’s first anniversary in power approaches.  Al-Qaeda-inspired fighters, breakaway regions, coupled with rival clans and an ongoing climate of insecurity are the continuing threats that are jeopardizing the current government’s initiatives of concluding decades of anarchy.  Although the current government was the first to attain global recognition since the collapse of the hardline regime in 1991, and has since seen billions in foreign aid being poured into the country, officials within the country have struggled to maintain security.  Somalia has taken steps forward, particularly in the coastal capital city of Mogadishu, which is now busy with laborers rebuilding after al-Shabaab fighters fled their city two years ago.  However the situation throughout the rest of the country continues to remain bleak.  Outside the city, the weak central government continues to maintain minimal influence as much of the country is fractured into autonomous regions, including the self-declared northern Somaliland.  Earlier this month, the northeast region of Puntland cut ties with the central government while in the far south, self-declared leaders in the Jubbaland region continue to defy Mogadishu’s authorities.  In turn, multiple armies are fighting for control of southern Somalia, including rival warlords, Islamist extremists and a national army that is backed by the 17,700-strong African Union (AU) force.  Al-Shabaab too remain powerful, despite losing a string of key towns and leaders, the terrorist group continues to carry out attacks.  A suicide attack on a UN compound in June of this year demonstrated al-Shabaab’s ability to strike at the heart of the capital’s most secure areas.  Last month, a report released by the UN Monitoring Group estimated that al-Shabaab still have some 5,000 militants within its group and that they remain the “principal threat to peace and security in Somalia.”  Aid workers are struggling to contain a dangerous outbreak of polio, with the UN warning that while more than one hundred cases have been recorded, there are “probably thousands more with the virus.”  Compounding the problem is an almost impossible environment for aid workers.  In a major blow this month, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an aid agency used to working in the world’s most dangerous places, pulled out of Somalia after two decades of providing aid in the country.  The agency cited that it could no longer put up with a “barrage of attacks,” including kidnappings, threats, lootings and murder.  Over a million Somalis are refugees in surrounding nations and another million are displaced inside the country, often in terrible conditions, with the UN warning of “pervasive” sexual violence.

Vote-Counting Begins In Mali

Vote-counting in Mali is currently underway just one day after a presidential election run-off took place, which is expected to provide a fresh start to the troubled West African state.  The election, the first to occur since 2007, is seen as crucial in order to unlock more than US $4 billion in aid.

On Sunday, people throughout Mali made their way through heavy rain in order to vote in the presidential run-off that is aimed at restoring democracy and stability after more than a year of turmoil.  An electorate of seven million had the choice between former premier Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who won 40% during the first round of voting, and ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse, who won nearly 20% of the vote.  Mali’s 21,000 polling stations opened at 08:00 GMT and closed at 18:00 GMT.

Louis Michel, the head of the European Union’s election observation mission, has indicated that there was “absolutely nothing doubtful or suspicious to report” and that voting had taken place “in good conditions, in a serene, quiet atmosphere,” adding that “whoever is elected will be elected with democratic legitimacy.  That is my belief.”

The interim government has until this Friday to make the results of the run-off public, however some observers expect that an announcement may be made sooner.  Early signs have indicated that Mr. Keita will likely win the elections.  The country of more than 14 million remains the continent’s third-largest gold producer however its US $10.6 billion economy contracted by 1.2 percent last year as widespread poverty contributed to the unrest in the northern regions of the country last year.

Meanwhile in Somalia, reports have emerged that al-Shabaab militants have stolen £480,000 (US $750,00) worth of British government-funded humanitarian materials in supplies.  The supplies were in warehouses and were captured during a raid by al-Shabaab militants in 2011 and 2012, however no information on what particular supplies were stolen has been released.  The theft, which was revealed in the fine print of the Department for International Development’s (DFID) annual accounts, is likely to fuel concerns pertaining to how Britain is spending its foreign aid at a time when the country is experiencing budget cuts at home.

The accounts describe the “theft between November 2011 and February 2012, by al-Shabaab in southern Somalia, of DFID funded humanitarian materials and supplies from the offices and warehouses of partner or organizations, to which DFID had provided funding to deliver projects and programmes.”  The accounts further note that “the DFID’s partners had no prior warning of the confiscations being carried out and therefore had no time to prevent the loss by relocating goods.”  The loss, which comes out of more than £80 million of aid that was allocated to Somalia in 2012 – 2013, appears in this year’s accounts because the investigation was only completed in the past twelve months.

In response to the reports, Gerald Howarth, a lawmaker in Prime MInister David Cameroon’s Conservative party, has stated that the theft raised concerns about how this money was being spent, indicating that “there is a huge public concern at the relentless increase in overseas aid.  Incidents like this, where British taxpayers‘ money is diverted into people fighting agains us, re not acceptable.”

A spokesman for the DFID has stated that there are always risks with working in unstable countries such as Somalia, but that it was doing everything it could to stop such thefts from occurring.  A statement released by the DFID indicated that the company “works in some of the most dangerous places in the world, including Somalia, because tackling the root causes of poverty and instability there ensures a safer world and a safer UK.”  The statement further added that “working in conflict-affected and fragile states carries inherent risk.  DFID does all it can to mitigate against this but, on occasion, losses will occur.”