Al Shabaab Shows Their Kidnap Victims

The four Kenyans abducted by Al-Shabaab on Wednesday have been displayed by the militants in a Somali town, local media has reported.

The militants paraded the four, among them a district officer, and a chief in the town of BardherBardere, Gedo region, about 380 km southwest of Mogadishu.

They also displayed a vehicle they took during the raid on an Administration Police camp in Gerille town, Wajir on the Kenya-Somalia border.


The Kenyans and the vehicles were displayed in different neighbourhoods in the town before being taken to a local square.

The militants also disconnected all communication equipment with the outside world, fearing that they may become victims of revenge air strikes.

More abductions

Media reports quoted the militants warning that they would continue to raid towns inside Kenyan territory and carry out killings and abductions.

This is in retaliation to the military operation by the Kenya Defence Forces inside Somalia. The Islamists invaded Gerille town and bombed the camp, reducing it to ashes.

Six persons, including two APs, were killed and three others were injured.


In a statement, Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said about 100 heavily-armed bandits attacked Gerille Administration Police Post in Wajir South District at around 6.30pm.

The bandits stole firearms, ammunition and a car from the post. "The bandits also committed arson by burning several properties within the post," said the commissioner.

North Eastern deputy provincial commissioner Wenslas Ongayo said most of those killed and injured were shot while fleeing to safety.

"The locals were heading to the mosque and other centres for evening prayers while the registration officers were distributing IDs," said Mr Ongayo.

Al-Shabaab later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to Kenya's decision to send troops into Somalia last October.

Kenya deployed a large force in southern Somalia in mid-October hot pursuit of Al-Shabaab militants whom it accused of endangering its security and economy.

Nairobi accused Al-Shabaab of kidnapping Western tourists and aid workers from Kenya.

The latest development comes at a time when Kenya and the African Union have submitted a request to the United Nations Security Council to allow KDF troops join the continental force combating Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

Major powers at the council have backed the mission but urged caution.

The deployment of KDF personnel would bring the total number of AU troops fighting the militants to 17,731. - Nation Reporter and AFP.

The Rest @ AllAfrica

UAE IP of Interest

2.51.196.137 in UAE has a history of specific interest in al Shabaab leadership. It has been reported that some family of al Shabaab leaders live in UAE. It is possible this IP belongs to Family members of al Shabaab leaders like Zubayr and Mansur almriki

recent visit history includes:

www.google.ae — omar+iman+abubakar+sunatime #5
30 Oct 09:54:44
shimronletters.blogspot.com/

shimronletters.blogspot.com/
30 Oct 09:56:43
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr
www.google.ae — omar+iman+abubakar+sunatime #5
30 Oct 10:01:20
shimronletters.blogspot.com/

(No referring link)
31 Oct 04:22:35
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr

shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr
31 Oct 04:46:25
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Mansour%20Al-Amriki

shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Mansour%20Al-Amriki
31 Oct 04:48:55
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Omar%20Iman%20Abubakar

(No referring link)
1 Nov 06:11:17
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr

(No referring link)
1 Nov 06:12:27
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr

(No referring link)
2 Nov 04:38:53
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr

(No referring link)
2 Nov 05:03:07
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr

(No referring link)
2 Nov 10:20:21
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr

shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Abu%20Zubayr
2 Nov 10:23:14
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/UAE

shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/UAE
2 Nov 10:24:43
shimronletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Yusuf%20Ahmed%20Nur

Defeated Al Shabaab May Be Crossing Into Kenya

Somalia's al Shabaab rebels are on the verge of being defeated after a four-year insurgency and could be driven out of the capital Mogadishu, the country's president said.

Troops backed by pro-government militia took two towns from the Islamist group, which claims ties to al Qaeda, in fighting on Monday, said President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, clad in the military uniform he has worn since the government launched its offensive.

Battles have raged across central and southern Somalia in recent weeks as Somali troops backed by the moderate Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca militia struggle to reclaim territory from al Shabaab. "Al Shabaab is on the verge of collapse," the president told reporters.

"We shall also sweep them from Mogadishu. Our enemies have suffered a great loss, it is obvious they will run away from many towns."Residents said al Shabaab had deserted more towns after it was rumoured the Ethiopian and Somali troops had advanced further. Ahmed said on Saturday his fighters were receiving logistical help from Ethiopian troops.

• Kenyan police said suspected al Shabaab rebels had entered Kenya and warned the public to be on alert and provide any information to aid in arresting them.
• The rebels who crossed the border were fleeing the fighting in Somalia, Kenyan authorities said.
• They are concerned because the Islamists have threatened to strike at Kenya to punish the east African country for training hundreds of new recruits to bolster Somali troop numbers.
• Kenya has been twice hit by al Qaeda. The militants have waged an insurgency against the largely ineffective UN-backed government and control large chunks of southern and central Somalia.
• Counter-terrorism experts say the lawless nation is a haven for foreign jihadists. In the past few weeks, Somali forces have clawed back parts of Mogadishu and now control 70% of the city, the government says.
  

Government soldiers captured Luq, 80 km (50 miles) from the Ethiopian border, and Elwaq, a frontier town close to Kenya after taking Beledhawo over the weekend. "We have taken Luq town after a brief fight. Al Shabaab has fled," Abdi Fatah Mohamed Gesey, former governor for Bay region, told Reuters by telephone from the agricultural town.

The Rest @ Reuters

"We will not stop our operations against al Shabaab. The residents have warmly welcomed us and our next stop will be Baidoa." Sustained clashes over the past week have focused on the capital and Somalia's southern border with Kenya. Government troops and African Union peacekeepers say they have inflicted heavy losses on al Shabaab militants in Mogadishu, but have also sustained some casualties.

"Our troops have captured Elwaq, nine km from the Kenyan border, peacefully," Colonel Mahamud Ali Shire told Reuters by telephone. "They run away from the town. We are now headed for Garbaharey, we have heard their last convoy has left for Bardhere to keep their foreign fighters safe, but we will not for a minute stop our fight against them." (Reuters)

Abu Mansur Amriki (Hammi) May be Dead After Al Shababb Defeats

An American citizen who holds a senior military leadership position in Shabaab, al Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia, is thought to have been killed during the recent fighting in the warn-torn country.

Omar Hammami, the American citizen who is a commander in Shabaab and who is better known as Abu Mansour al Amriki, may have been killed during the heavy fighting in Mogadishu and the surrounding areas, Somalia's defense minister told The Associated Press.

The defense minister said the report is unconfirmed but intelligence reports indicate he was killed.

Shabaab has not released a statement announcing his death. US intelligence officials contacted by The Long War Journal said they were aware of the reports but could not confirm Hammami's status.

Hammami is a US citizen from Alabama who converted to Islam and then traveled to Somalia in 2006. Once in Somalia, he quickly rose through the ranks, and now serves as a military commander. He is one of the many foreign commanders who hold senior leadership positions in Shabaab, which is al Qaeda's affiliate in East Africa. Hammami is one of 14 people indicted by the US Justice Department in August 2010 for providing material support to Shabaab.

Hammami also began appearing in Shabaab propaganda tapes. In one tape, released in May 2010, Hammami stressed that Shabaab's war is not confined to Somalia but is global in nature. "From Somalia and Shiishaan (Chechnya), from Iraq and Afghanistan, gonna meet up in the Holy Lands, establishing Allah's Law on the land," Hammami says in a chorus repeated throughout the song. Hammami and others identify their enemy as the "salib," or crusaders.

Two weeks ago, the Somali government, backed by Ugandan and Burundian forces in the African Union, as well as Ethiopia, launched an offensive against Shabaab. Somalia's President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, claimed yesterday that Shabaab "is on the verge of collapse" after the terror group has been driven out of several strongholds in the capital of Mogadishu as well as in the Gedo region on the Kenyan border.

The government claimed that Shabaab has lost more than 500 fighters during the offensive. But the African Union has suppressed information about heavy casualties to its own forces. Last week, it was reported that 53 African Union troops were killed during the fighting. No estimates on the number of Somali troops killed have been released.


The Rest @ by Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal

Ahmed Ali Hussein, 44, Executed by Al Shabaab

Somalia's Shabaab executes 'US spy'2011-02-01 07:46

Mogadishu - Somalia's al-Qaeda-inspired Shabaab militia publicly executed a man by a firing squad after accusing him of spying for the United States, the insurgents said on Monday.

Ahmed Ali Hussein, 44, was gunned down late on Sunday at one of the rebels' camps in the north of Mogadishu.

• The group said Hussein had been spying for the CIA in connection with a probe to find the perpetrators of the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa.
• "We know so many people who claim to be Muslim scholars while spying on the Muslims. We will catch them and execute them in front of you like this man who confessed to have been working with the American intelligence agency," said Ali Mohamed Hussein, a Shabaab official.
• The Shabaab control large swathes of territory in the south and central Somalia and have imposed a strict brand of Islamic laws, with offenders often flogged or executed in public.

The Rest @ SAPA News24

Al Shabaa Claims it will retake Mogadishu

Insurgent group al Shabaab has made a dramatic statement, one day after Somalian Prime Minister Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed said the government, allied with the international community, has the ability to eliminate the threat posed by militants.

In a press conference in Mogadishu, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, the spokesman of the al Qaeda-inspired group, described the government’s comments as a "dream."

Rage said the fight is between al Shabaab and the transitional federal government of Somalia, which has international support. “The [United Nations Security Council] special meeting on Somalia in New York was a forum in which Somali government officials were begging for infidels,” Rage said.

He called on Somalis, already exhausted from civil war, to "get ready" for new combat with the Somali government, vowing al Shabaab will retake Mogadishu.

Rage also criticized local media, saying that they were spreading news about al Shabaab that was baseless and false. He called on the people to not believe the reports.

Al Shabaab’s statements come as the Somali prime minister stated in an interview with Voice of America that it is in the interest of the international community to help his government eliminate the threat posed by the insurgents. He warned that failure to do so will create a haven for terrorists, including al Qaeda, in Somalia.

The Rest @ AHN

Life Under Al Shabaab in Somalia

Picture this

• All functioning government outside of your local home town leaders disappears.
• A local kid, who has been off to college in Saudi Arabia or Egypt comes back and says that he will set up local law according to Sharia (Islamic Law) an elder from another town is appointed "judge"







• He says that He will need a local security force of police/military to maintain order.


(Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys and Mukhtaar Abu Mansur Robow,


• Your city is in severe draught, and your local-son-leader demands that every one bringing food or any aid of any kind must pay a $5000 per year registration fee, and 20% of all the food the aid agency brings in goes to Him - (in reality he keeps 50%)
  
  
  
  
• He brings in military "consultants" from outside to train up his new security force. These are foreigners trained by al Qaeda.







• In exchange for training the security, the al Qaeda consultants set up training camps for other foreign fighters in your town.







• The town leaders are told that they must pay a tax, and that they must offer up their daughters as wives for the foreign fighters that have come to your town.





• Every so often, the security force gathers up all its fighters and goes into the capital, where many are killed or captured. Each time they come back to your town.
• Sharia law is strictly enforced, like the cutting off hands, and the stoning of young women who report rapes by Mujahdin.
• Soon, every male of 13 years or older gets "drafted" in the the local militia, and there is no one to plant the crops, and the drought gets worse.
  
  (child soldier chewing the Narcotic plant Khat)
  

Some of you kids are sent of to be suicide bombers in other towns

This same thing is happening in every cluster of small towns in your part of the country. Your Young children are starving, your older children are serving as mujaheddin or "wifes" of Mujaheddin.

You just try to hold your family together. More and more foreign fighters come, and less and less food arrives.

• If you find you are a Sufi Muslim, that your faith has been declared heretical. Taliban like laws keep women oppressed.
• Your local police leader ( al Shabaab) sends some of your kids out to surrounding areas and countries to commit bombings. These are aimed at spread this form of government, the one you currently enjoy.

There is no way out unless some outside force comes in and does it for you.

This is life under Al Shabaab

-Editor

-Shimron

Sheikh Khadar of Masagawaa arrested by al Shabaab

It appears that al Shabaab has found someone to blame for the starvation they cannot seem to address by arresting on of their own, Sheikh Khadar, of Masagawaa, for stealing aid funds for drought.

-Shimron


**************
Somalia’s Al Shabaab militant group has detained regional leaders of the group in the Galgudud region of central Somalia after being charged with stealing money, local elders said Friday.

Sheikh Khadar, Al Shabaab’s Eldher district commissioner, and two other officials were taken into custody following search operations in the village of Masagawaa.

The officials were accused of stealing 300 million Somali shillings (US$9,677) which is said to have been intended to aid drought-affected Somalis in central Somalia.

No comments about the incident were immediately available from Al Shabaab’s administration in the region.

The event comes as many regions in southern and central Somalia have been hit by severe droughts after a shortage of rain for more three years.

Al Shabaab has banned more than 20 aid agencies from operating in south-central Somalia.Read more:

The Rest @ ALN

Al Shabaab Leader Role Call

Emirs


Sheikh Aden Hashi Farah "Eyrow" (2007–2008) Dead
Sheikh Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansoor" (2008–2009)[16] Dismissed but still around
Sheikh Moktar Ali Zubeyr "Godane" (2009–present) Current Leader


Foreign Leaders

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed: Fazul, a Kenyan, was appointed by Osama bin Laden as al Qaeda's leader in East Africa in late 2009. Before the death of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, Fazul served as the military operations chief for al Qaeda in East Africa. Fazul is an experienced al Qaeda leader who is known to be able to move in and out of East African countries with ease. In August 2008, he slipped a police dragnet in Kenya. Fazul has been sheltering in Somalia with Shabaab and the Islamic Courts for years. Fazul is considered to be Shabaab's military leader, while

*Sheikh Muktar Abdelrahman Abu Zubeyr is Shabaab's spiritual leader.
Shaykh Muhammad Abu Fa'id: Fai'd, a Saudi citizen, serves as a top financier and a "manager" for Shabaab.

Abu Sulayman Al Banadiri: Banadiri is a Somali of Yemeni descent. He serves as a top adviser to Zubeyr, and trained in an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.

Abu Musa Mombasa: Mombasa, a Pakistani citizen, serves as Shabaab's chief of security and training.

Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki: Amriki, whose real name is Omar Hammami, is a US citizen who converted to Islam and traveled to Somalia in 2006. Once in Somalia, he quickly rose through the ranks, and now serves as a military commander, recruiter, financier, and propagandist. Amriki appears in several Shabaab propaganda tapes. Hammami has become a primary recruiter for Al Shabaab; he has issued written statements on behalf of Al Shabaab and has appeared in the terror organization's propaganda videos and audio recordings. An indictment unsealed in August 2010 charged him with providing material support to terrorists.[37]

Mahmud Mujajir: Mujajir, a Sudanese citizen, is Shabaab's chief of recruitment for suicide bombers.

Abdifatah Aweys Abu Hamza: Hamza is a Somali national who trained in Afghanistan. He is the commander of the Mujahideen of Al Quds, or Shabaab's Jerusalem Brigade, a military formation.

One who was not mentioned but reported by the Long War Journal is

Issa Osman Issa: Issa serves as a top al Qaeda recruiter and military strategist for Shabaab. Before joining Shabaab, Issa participated in the simultaneous attacks on the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in 1998, and has been described as a central player in the simultaneous attacks on the Paradise Hotel in Kikambala, Kenya, in 2002, and the attempt to down an Israeli airliner in Mombassa also in 2002.

Somali Leaders


Sheikh Mukhtar Robow "Abu Mansoor" — Deputy Leader and former official spokesman.[17]
Sheikh Xasan Xuseen – Spiritual Leader [18]
Sheikh Hussein Ali Fidow — Political Chief [19]
Sheikh Ali Mohamud Raghe "Dheere" — Official Spokesman[20]
Sheikh Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad "al-Afghani" (Abubakar al-Seyli'i) - Leader (Governor) of the Kisimayo administration [20]
Sheikh Hassan Yaqub Ali — Official spokesman of the Kisimayo administration[20]
Sheik Ali Mohamed Hussein — Leader (Governor) of Banaadir region (Mogadishu)
Sheikh Abdirahman Hassan Hussein — Leader (Governor) of the Middle Shabelle region[21]
Sheikh Hassan Abdullah Hersi "al-Turki" — Leader of the Ras Kamboni Brigades which controls the Juba Valley and was first part of Hizbul Islam but merged with al-Shabaab in 2010.[22]
Sheikh Mohamed Said Atom - Warlord who in July 2010 announced allegiance to al-Shabaab and the al-Shabaab commander in Puntland.[23]

The Rest @ Wilkipedia

Zubayr Says Al Shabaab will Assist with Somali Drought

1/1/2011

The overall leader of the Al-Shabab militia group in Somalia Ahmed Godane has said that Al-Shabab will do all that it takes to assist the drought hit people of Somalia.

He added that all the people in South Somalia will try to bring all that they have together and assist the people affected by drought.

"We are aware that there is a serious drought in parts of Somalia and therefore we urge the islamic communities to come to the rescue of the Somalia people." It is in rare occasions that the head of Al-Shabab comes out openly to talk on issues affecting Somali people.

The Rest @ Bariga Africa

Islamist Unity in Somalia

There is a big show of unity between Awayes and leaders and some Junior leaders of al Shabaab. Actually, it looks like al Shabaab defeated Hizbul Islam, and offered the survivors death or enlistment. Aweys cares not, as long as he becomes the head of an Islamist state in Somalia. Conspicuous in his absence is Adbi Godane, or Mukhtar Abdirahman Abuu Zubeyr). Where is he?

Shimron Issachar


************************
At least 17 people were killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu during Tuesday clashes, as Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys publicly declared his support for the merger of Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam insurgent factions, Radio Garowe reports.




The fighting started overnight Monday and continued into Tuesday, with Somali government forces and allied African peacekeepers (AMISOM) repelling attacks by Al Shabaab insurgents.

Most of the violence was concentrated around Mogadishu's Hodan, Bondhere and Abdiaziz districts. Medical workers reported more than 32 wounded persons were admitted to local hospitals.

Witnesses said 8 civilians were killed in two separate incidents when an artillery shell hit residential areas in Kaaraan and Howlwadaag, which are districts outside of Tuesday's fighting zone.

A businessman in Bakara Market, a notorious insurgent stronghold since early 2007, confidentially told Garowe Online that AMISOM peacekeepers had moved "too close" to the market.

"There is plenty of fear that the fighting will spread into Bakara Market," said the business source who declined to be named for security reasons.

Al Shabaab-Hizbul Islam merger

Mogadishu has been wracked by insurgent violence since early 2007, when Islamist fighters went underground and spearheaded a bloody insurgency to overthrow the country's internationally recognized but weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG).

In Feb. 2009, a new Islamist faction was established under the leadership of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who formed the Hizbul Islam insurgent group with the goal of toppling the TFG and installing an Islamist regime in Mogadishu.

On Tuesday, Sheikh Aweys appeared at a public rally with Al Shabaab leaders including Sheikh Fuad Shongole and Sheikh Ali Dheere, Al Shabaab's propaganda chief and spokesman, respectively.

The event was held in Afgoye, a small farming town 30km south of Mogadishu and formerly a major base for Hizbul Islam faction.

Sheikh Aweys said: "I am pleased to witness the unity of Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam. I urge all Islamist fighters and all Muslims to join the war."

He called on AMISOM troop-contributing countries, namely Uganda and Burundi, to "pull out your troops or they will return to you dead."

Sheikh Shongole, who is Al Shabaab's third-in-command and chief of propaganda, bragged that he survived a mosque last May to "witness to the unity of the Mujahideen [holy warrior] in Somalia."

Aweys' failure

It is a major change of fortune for Sheikh Aweys, who led all Somali Islamists under the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) umbrella in 2006. The ICU militia seized Mogadishu in June 2006, but were ousted by the Ethiopian army's invasion six months later.

The ICU splintered into three factions: Al Shabaab; Hizbul Islam, led by Sheikh Aweys; and the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, who became TFG President in Jan. 2009.

Insiders say Sheikh Aweys, who was the leader of all ICU splinter groups in 2006, has now surrendered his seniority and leadership over to junior officers within the former ICU group, but who are now top leaders in Al Shabaab group.

Those who know Sheikh Aweys describe him as a man obssessed with becoming the President of Somalia one day, but his aspiration faces many obstacles not the least of which is that he is on the U.S. terrorism watch-list.

Somali insurgents have remained unable to over-power the 8,000-strong AMISOM peacekeeping force, which guards the port, airport and presidential compound.

Upwards of 21,000 have been killed in the Somali insurgency since early 2007, with more than 1million people displaced.

The Rest @ Garowe Online

All Shabaab Bombs Bus Bound for Kampala Uganda

A bomb attack on a Kampala-bound bus in Nairobi by the al-Shabaab militants on the night of December 20, claimed three lives and injured 26 as the bus was preparing to leave for Kampala. It could have been worse if the attacker had found his way into the bus undetected.

This comes as the al-Shabaab leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Abu Zubayr, threatened further attacks on Uganda and Burundi for contributing troops to the African Union mission. Such incidents should remind us that these militants are still around and are going nowhere until they achieve their mission.

On the question of how terrorist attacks can be foiled, it is important to investigate just why someone might be inclined to become a suicide bomber. In my understanding, terrorists are not born, they are created. Unprovoked, most human beings will continue to live their own lives, attempting to improve their environment and acquire a greater quality of life. But, once provoked, any person has the potential to revert to violent means to ward off a perceived or real threat.

Terrorists could make a bomb in an item as small as a soda can. They could sneak weapons in body cavities. They could set off a bomb to go off in a line at a sporting event, or in the security line at an airport. Risk is just something that we have to deal with. Fortunately, like many risks, the risk from terrorism is very small. Thinking outside the box can help.


The target of a suicide bomber is usually a highly populated space which is likely to be a well-known public area, usually at peak times like the festive season we are in. This is the most damaging method in terms of destruction of life, property and evidence. A suicide bomber will typically place himself and his deadly payload wherever he thinks he will kill the most people.



A single suicide bomber can carry enough explosive on his body to kill or gravely wound everyone within a 50-foot radius in an open area. A bomber driving a truck or car laden with explosives could destroy an entire building.



The destruction can

Somali Terrorists Captured in the Netherlands

Dutch authorities have arrested 12 men of Somali origin they believe were about to carry out a terrorist attack, authorities said Saturday.

The country's intelligence service provided information that led to the arrests in Rotterdam, Public Prosecution Service spokesman Wim de Bruin told CNN.

No weapons or explosives were found, he said. The suspects are in police custody.

"The attack was said to be imminent so the national police started an investigation which led to the arrest of 12 Somalis later on Friday in Rotterdam," de Bruin said.

• "We are not sure about what the target was, how they were going to carry out the attack or when."
• A Dutch counterterrorism office spokeswoman said the immediate threat to the country has been removed and the terror alert level will remain "limited," or relatively low.
  "We are now following the information that comes out of the interrogations with these 12 individuals to see if there still remains a threat from this plot," said Judith Sluiter of the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

The men, between ages 19 and 48, were arrested in various locations. Police have searched a pawn shop, four homes and two hotel rooms, de Bruin said.

Six of the suspects live in Rotterdam and one is from Denmark. Some are Dutch citizens. They all are of Somali origin, de Bruin said.

A spokesman for the Danish Security Service said authorities are in "close contact" with Dutch police.

War-torn Somalia has a virtually powerless central government and is home to several militant groups, including Al-Shabaab, which controls much of the country. Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including a series of bombs that tore through an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby center in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

Officials said the July 11 blasts, which killed 79 people, were probably set off by suicide bombers.
The United States this year charged several people with trying to funnel money or otherwise assist Somali extremists. Al-Shabaab has been linked to al Qaeda.

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in September asked other countries to train Somalia's forces to help counter militant groups.

The Netherlands is concerned about threats to Western countries, including itself, said Sluiter. She made a reference to the recent suicide bombing in Stockholm, Sweden.

A 2009 Dutch intelligence report indicated a decreased threat from domestic militant networks.
Domestic militants were becoming more focused on jihad outside the Netherlands, the report said.

But it did say the country was seeing more jihadist threats from Somalia and Yemen.
The report noted several cases of Dutch citizens trying to travel to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab, including four arrested in 2009 in Kenya.

The arrests in the Netherlands followed an unrelated sweep a few days before in the United Kingdom. An operation Monday led by the British intelligence service, MI5, resulted in arrests of 12 suspects ranging in age from 17 to 28 in the cities of London, Stoke and Birmingham, England, as well as Cardiff, Wales.

A senior British official not authorized to speak on the record said the suspects were arrested on suspicion of "preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the UK," but he also said the suspects were "aspirational" rather than equipped and "ready to go."

The Rest @ CNN

Robow challenges Godane (Zubeyr)

Islamists in control of South and Central Somalia are fighting internally as they try and recover from battle losses. Shabaab fought and took Burhakaba town, formerly held by Hizbul Islam.

-Shimron
****************
A months-long dispute among senior members of Somali insurgent group Al Shabaab took a worse turn Saturday when a senior commander condemned the group’s top chief, Radio Garowe reports.

Sheikh Fuad

Sheikh Fuad Mohamed Khalaf “Shongole” gave a publicly address at a mosque in Mogadishu’s Bakara Market, saying that Al Shabaab chief Ahmed Abdi Godane alias Sheikh Muktar Abdirahman Abu-Zubeyr has “hidden agendas.”

“A leader is he who addresses his people and leads his people towards all good things, but fighting everyone is not part of the solution,” Shongole said.

Local sources report that the dispute among Al Shabaab’s top leaders intensified earlier this month when Al Shabaab insurgents attacked and seized Burhakaba town, located in Bay region northwest of Mogadishu.

Upwards of 30 people were killed in the clashes between Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam insurgent factions. Burhakaba had previously been under the control of Hizbul Islam, a group led by Islamist hardliner Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

“The fighting in Burhakaba was not jihad, because its haram [prohibited] for a Muslim person to kill another Muslim person and then brag about it,” Shongole said publicly at the mosque.

• Insiders say Shongole is allied to Al Shabaab’s deputy commander, Sheikh Muktar Robow “Abu Mansur,” a native of Bay region. Godane, Al Shabaab’s top chief, is a native in northwestern Somalia separatist region of Somaliland and has no population base in southern Somalia.

This is the first time that a senior member of Al Shabaab has publicly condemned Godane, thereby publicly revealing the fractures that occurred within the group since September fighting when upwards of 800 Al Shabaab fighters were killed in Mogadishu clashes with African Union-backed Somali government forces.

Abu Mansur [Robow] was reportedly angered by the massive losses suffered by Al Shabaab, but his dispute with Godane briefly disappeared from the public until Shongole’s public comments.

The U.S. government designated Al Shabaab as a terrorist organization in early 2008, subsequently followed by other Western powers including Australia.

The Rest @GAROWE ONLINE

The displaced people on the southern outskirts of Mogadishu are living in an increasingly insecure situation due to in-fighting and tension between radical Islamist groups
Al-Shabaab and Hizbu Islam have both exhibited the desire to expand their territories.

Most of the war displaced peoples from Mogadishu live on a strip of land between the city and Afgoye town, 30km south of the Somali capital. Indeed, the thousands of families are facing an increasingly uncertain situation as al-Shabaab fighters keep targeting more positions held by Hizbu Islam.

According to sources, which requested to remain anonymous due to fear of victimisation, the anxiety among the displaced is forcing them to prepare themselves for self defence.
Militias’ movements around the camps make the mobilisation more critical.

The same sources indicate that on Tuesday night, Hizbu Islam’s top brass that included the movement’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, militia commander Abdulkadir Komandos, political strategist Mussa Abdi Arale, and other members of the Shura (consultative council) and Fulinta (executive body), held a meeting at undisclosed site. The group is said to have rejected the motion of counter-attacking al-Shabaab.

Any resistance

However, the Hizbu Islam leaders are said to have adopted a self-defence strategy against the advancing al-Shabaab fighters.

Hizbu Islam is apparently reacting to series of advances made by al-Shabaab fighters against their loyalists in southern Somalia recently.

- Source unsited

Zubeyr (Godani) being Exposed to Capture by Robow and Aweys?

It may be, that as part an al Shabaab "reorganization" being conducted by Sheikh Hassan Dahir and Mukhtaar Abu Mansur Robow, that Sheikh Mohamed in Juba and Mukhtar Abdirahman Abuu Zubeyr are being deliberately exposed to capture or death by the release of their whereabouts to the press.

This would explain why there has been certain releases of information about Sheikh Mohamed in Juba being in a Kenyan Jail, and Mukhtar Abdirahman Abuu Zubeyr (Abdi Godane)'s recent trips to visit his family in UAE after recent discussions about the merging of al Shabaab with other Islamist Groups....


-Shimron Issachar

*********************************
Mogadishu (Sunatimes) Al-shabab militias in Kismayo have for the first time said that one of their leaders named as Sheikh Mohamed in the Juba region has been in a Kenyan jail for the last six months.

Malim Adan Mohamed Abdullahi blamed some of Al-shabab leaders in Kismayo for not providing money that was needed to secure the release of the arrested senior militia man of the group.

Malim Adan claimed that Kenyan authorities asked for $1000 to release their member but A-shabab’s treasury officer and head of the militia in Kismayo Hasan Yakub Ali refused to provide the funds.

However, Malim could not explain where and how Sheikh Mohamed was arrested by Kenyan authorities.

Another member of the insurgent group sneaked out of a Kenyan prison early this year after allegedly bribing the Kenyan police when he was arrested at the border between Kenya and Uganda.




*****************************************

Somalia:Alqaeda’s Alshabab leader seen in United Arab Emirates

Dubai (Sunatimes) Some very reliable sources report that the leader of Alshabab, an insurgent groups allied to Alqaeda, Ahmed Aw Mohamud Godane, aka Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Zubeyr, had visited Sharjah, UAE, at least two times so far this ending year.

The reclusive leader made unreported trips to United Arab Emirate to visit his wife and children are had been living in UAE since 2008.

The report says that

• Abu Zubeyr traveled to UAE in March 3, 2010, through Kenya Khat flight and second time was crossed the border as a normal man.
• March 3, 2010“He took a flight which brought Khat, green stimulant leafs, to KM50 airport, an air strip controlled by Alshabab which locates 50kms in the south of Mogadishu"
• Some investigations we made confirmed that Abu Zubeyr crossed the Kenyan border in November 11, 2010 to make his trip to UAE and visited his wife the second times this year.
• Abu Zubeyr was confirmed having a Kenyan passport with unidentified name, and he also has a resident permit from UAE which some Somali businessmen facilitated for him to make sure that he can visit his family when needed.
• A source close to Alshabab, which is in UAE told us that Abu Zubeyr visited his wive Muna Sheikh Abdirahman (Barawe) who lives with his in Sharjah. And he spent six days with them according to the source which claimed anonymity because of security reasons.

This wife, Muna, who is descent from Shiiqaal-Hawiye clan but her mother is Issa-Musse of Isaq clan got the resident permit from one of the Amirs of UAE who had relationship with her father who was working for the Amir long time, according to the source.

She moved from Hargeysa in October 2008 when Alshabab launched the deadly suicide targeted to the Somaliland presidential palace, the Ethiopian business council in Hargeysa and the UNDP head quarters.

A maid who used to work for the family of Abu Zubeyr in UAE confirmed that She saw Abu Zubeyr in the house but didn’t know that he was the unpopular leader of Alshabab.
“I saw him, I didn’t think that he was Abu Zubeyr, but I was told two months later that the man who was in the house was Abu Zubeyr, but I couldn’t talk about that” she said. “I couldn’t talk his information to anyone because I was in UAE without resident permit, I didn’t want to be in trouble” she added.

A Somali businessman in UAE who is neighbor to Abu Zubeyr’s family in Sharjah told Sunatimes that he saw Abu Zubeyr and formally knew him because he used to teach him religion in Hargeysa early times.

“I saw him, he was entering the house, but I didn’t know if the house was his own, I was surprised why such this man who is in the international wanted lists to move freely in such place” said the man whose surname is Hamza.

“In 1999 I was one of his students, he was teaching us the book of the prayers, Safina, I have his photo with me, so I can make sure that in November 23, 2010, he was in his house in Sharjah” he added.

Investigative reporters from Waagacusub, a popular Somali portal website who have long been tracking down about Alshabaab leaders’ profile.

They have secretly received four pictures, one of them is Ahmed Abdi Godane, Alshabaab leaders’ picture To secure the authenticity of the picture, the reporters have discussed with a well-known Somali businessman about his knowledge about Godane by asking if he personally knew Godane.

He acknowledge that he know the militant leader well and selected Godane’s picture from our already-held pictures which confirms that Waagacusub has the personal photo of Ahmed Abdi Godane, Alshabaab’s reclusive leader.

• Abu Zubeyr was the secretary general of the union of Islamic courts regime (UIC) which rules much of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006, but he was hiding himself even as he was in that position.
• He was part of UIC delegation that went to Khartoum to participate the peace deal between the transitional government of that time led by then president Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed and the UIC regime led by the current president of TFG Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.
• He was using a passport with the name Mukhtar Abdi rahman, the same name he is using as his war name now, and in the passport it says that he was born July 10, 1977.
  

By Dahir Alasow,
dahiralasow@yahoo.com

The Rest @ Sunna Times

Al Shabaab Strength in December 2010

From Bill Roggio...

I missed this report from Sunatimes when it came out in November. According to Sunatimes, Shabaab officials claim to have more than 14,000 fighters under their command throughout Somalia. Among those are nearly 2,000 "Al-Qaeda foreign fighters." The report has specific numbers, and breaks down the composition of Shabaab by region and clan affiliation:
Quoting some of Al-Shabaab militant officials, the report says the biggest number of Al-Shabaab militias is from Digil and Mirifle clans of Rahanwein tribe totaling 4,230 fighters as indicated in the list of the clans and their figure. Rahanwein is the main dominant tribe in southwest Somalia.

• 3,106 soldiers of Al-Shabaab are from Darod tribe mainly from Ogaden and Marehan clans who are inhabitants in southern Somalia.
• 2,401 are from Hawiye tribe mostly from Duduble and Murursade clans in the country's central and southern regions.
• 1,982 from Al-Qaeda foreign fighters, among of them are highly skilled military experts with war strategy and information intelligence.
• 1,702 are largely from Isaaq clan of Somalia's northern Dir tribe as 753 fighters of that number belonging especially to the sub-clan of Al-Shabaab's leader Ahmed Godane.
• 1,005 are from the minority clans in Somalia those who are students and farmers recruited from the southern parts of the country.

Read more @ The Long War Journal

Here's how they know....

When you say something is not there.....they know when its not true

Kidnapped Child Soliders make up al Shabaab Mustafa Abul Yaziid Brigade

This report, published on October 22nd, 2010, describe a new Al Shabaab Brigade being formed by pulling children out of school and giving them weapons. The unit, recently put on a demonstration in Mogadishu. This suggests an offensive is being planned. It may be being led by some new Shabbab officers.

-shimron Issachar

***************



The Al-Qaeda linked insurgent group of Al-Shabaab has recently recruited some senior officers of Al-Shabaab and has presented in Mogadishu, hundreds of freshly trained young Somali generation, trained by the Al-Qaeda foreigner fighters. Those are hiding in the Somali territory are to take part what they call a Holy war (Jihad) against African Union Peace keeping troops, and the troops of the transitional federal government of Somalia.

The recruitment of this generation came after Al-Shabaab began to register large numbers of generations without considering their age. There are under age children not able to carry guns they are to fight with, these children are believed to be forcibly removed from the schools and villages in the areas. Those who choose not to are labelled non-believers and can be executed by beheading.

The troops wear the same military clothes and are armed with different weapons, with motorbikes and other military carrier vehicles, the soldiers were announcing Arabic words against AMISOM, AU, UN and the West.

The deputy leader of Al-Shabaab, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow (Abu-Mansour) and the Spokesman of Al-Shabaab Sheikh Ali Mohamud Raghe (Sheikh Ali Dhere) were in the area where the fresh troops presented military marches and commando presentations in front of thousands of people who gathered at the area. They also named these soldiers the brigade of “Mustafa Abul Yaziid”.

The seniors who were addressing to the soldiers and the people who support them told that this brigade will revenge for the Mustafa Abul Yaziid, one of Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan who died in the past month in a joint offensive carried out by the American and Afghan troops, also they have told that these troops will be destroyed with their military experience and civilian support, along with the unstoppable power of the African Union Peace Keeping troops in Somalia.
Tags

The Rest @ Demotix

Swedish al Ansar visitor data

Swedish IP Adress 85.225.42.239 looking for Al Ansar forum (islamist-mujajadeen site)and information about Al Shabaab in Somalia.
19th November 2010 07:02:48

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http://www.google.se/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=13&ved=0CCoQFjACOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshimronletters.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fal-ansar-forum.html&rct=j&q=ansar%20forum&ei=tiDmTMG-FY_rOfyOyLMK&usg=AFQjCNGJ3CR9YqYEfkmJalsSGmN0ciUIeg&sig2=aT35bZkDi00C48z2


85.225.42.239 [Label IP Address]
Country Sweden
Region Ostergotlands Lan
City Linköping
ISP Bredbandsbolaget Ab


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