DHS: Intel-sharing on terror lacking

Communication among the various national security agencies charged with preventing future terrorist attacks has yet to reach a satisfactory level, US homeland, Security officials told senators Wednesday. While interagency information-gathering and -sharing has improved tremendously in the eight years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday that communication between federal, state and local law enforcement “is still in the developmental stage.”..more..http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/61051-dhs-intel-sharing-on-terror-lacking

FBI watching for ‘homegrown' terrorists

WASHINGTON — Eight years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and just days after a terror plot was thwarted in Texas — the nation's top anti-terrorist officials told Congress on Wednesday that they are as worried about “homegrown” terrorists as they are about threats from abroad.FBI Director Robert Mueller said al-Qaida is recruiting longtime, legal residents of the United States to carry out terror attacks in the country, and the Internet is providing an avenue for people — who are otherwise not affiliated with anti-American groups — to “self-radicalize.”Testifying before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stressed that terrorism is a threat throughout the country, not just in landmark cities like New York and Washington.
“These events can happen anywhere in our country at any time,” Napolitano said. “We cannot limit our efforts to a few urban areas.”Houston law enforcement officials said after the hearing that they have considered homegrown terrorism threat for years and are working to prevent an attack on potential targets, including ports, oil refineries and the Johnson Space Center.“Too many local law enforcement people think the only way they can address homeland security is by being concerned about what's going on in foreign countries or what's coming to us from foreign countries,” said Bob Doguim, the chief of homeland security and emergency management at the Harris County Sheriff's Department. “But we address our homeland security from a different perspective.”Mueller said that while foreign al-Qaida operatives are still determined to attack the U.S., his bureau is devoting increased attention to the specter of “homegrown” terrorism perpetrated by American natives or legal permanent residents.“Several FBI terrorism subjects with no known connections to overseas groups have taken steps to move from violent rhetoric to action,” Mueller said. He said these “lone wolves” are more difficult to detect than terrorist groups because they operate quietly and independently. Often they get their inspiration and training online, rather than in person.But should they travel to Pakistan, Yemen, or Somalia for further training, their status as legal residents of the U.S. makes it easy to come and go...more..http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6645914.html

UPDATE Fierce Terrorist Infighting reports .. fighting erupts in Kismayo

MOGADISHU (TF.SF)—Fierce fighting between Terrorist al Shabaab and Terrorist Hizbul Islam militants has erupted in the port town of Kismayo , where the two sides have been preparing for fighting to control the Somali port city for the last three days, witnesses and officials say.
the fighting has started in the town. There are no further details about the fighting. Residents say the sound of heavy gun fire could be heard in the town. More civilians started fleeing from Kismayo early on Wednesady. Al-shabaab Terrorist has declared war on Hizbul Islam Terrorist on Wednesday and Hizbul Islam replied that they will defend any fighting from the Shabaab al- shabaab Terrorist . On the other hand there is tension in Afmadow town in the region, where al Shabaab Terrorist has reportedly deployed more fighters near the town to fight with fighters loyal to Terrorist Hizbul Islam based in the town. There is power struggle between the two Terrorist groups. Terrorist Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys leads Hizbul Islam which is among the Islamist rebels fighting to topple the Transitional Federal Government. two Terrorist rebel groups.
The two groups have been fighting against the fragile government led by President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed together since May 2009. But their dispute started when al Shabaab formed an administration in Kismayo unilaterally.
War without Mercy the terror and violence in Somalia

US officials worry about homegrown terrorism plots

* Recent arrests highlight risk of attacks in U.S.* Concern individuals leaving U.S. for militant camps

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Top Obama administration officials on Wednesday said recent arrests in alleged bombing plots highlight the challenges they face combating "self-radicalized, homegrown extremists" as well as foreigners in the United States determined to carry out attacks.Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan-born man living legally in Colorado, was charged last week with planning a bombing attack in the United States, and a Jordanian man who overstayed a visa permit was accused of trying to bomb a Dallas skyscraper.Those and other recent arrests have prompted alerts to law enforcement agencies to step up vigilance on transit systems, in luxury hotels and at sports stadiums.However, authorities have repeatedly said they do not believe an attack is imminent and have declined to raise the threat assessment from the current "elevated" level.The officials told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that al Qaeda still poses a threat -- although a reduced one -- and that they must also focus on affiliated groups and homegrown militants."These episodes have shown that the threat of terrorism can come from people in many different areas of the country with a broad range of backgrounds," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the panel.While the case involving the Jordanian man and another bombing plot involving an American who is accused of trying to blow up an Illinois courthouse were sting operations, officials stressed that they are sometimes hard to uncover."These cases illustrate not only the threats, but the challenges presented by the self-radicalized, homegrown extremists," said FBI Director Robert Mueller.He also said that he was concerned that al Qaeda, which was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, has been trying to draw in people from Europe and other Westerners who could more easily slip into the United States."For the last several years, we have picked up intelligence that al Qaeda has made a concerted effort to recruit Europeans and Westerners understanding that they can fly under the radar in terms of passing through border controls," Mueller said.Mueller and the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Michael Leiter, also expressed concern that militant groups are recruiting individuals like Somali immigrants in the United States to receive weapons training in overseas camps."Over the past several years, travel of Westerners, particularly U.S. citizens, to either Pakistan or Somalia has been our single biggest concern," Leiter said. (Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Xavier Briand)

Related Store ...

Radicalization of Americans worrying Eric Holder. More on the Suspected Terrorists Arrested in NC,Search broadens in case of Raleigh-based terror plot

Public's help needed in terror fight, Napolitano says..Welcome on board! We been calling for a long time.

Protecting the US homeland,Napolitano’s fears over Somali and other terrorists

How to reinvigorate the war on terrorism here at home

Terrorism to be threat for decades

Taking The War To The Terrorists

Home-Grown Terrorists Arrested in North Carolina ...
Terrorists Groups attract young Americans for Jihadist Fighting

Recruited For Jihad? About 20 young Somali-American men in Minneapolis have recently vanished.

Update Report : Terrorist omar mohamad mahamud jehadist from Seattle Mogadishu Suicide-Bomber

Al-Shabaab Horn of Africa

Terrorist omar mohamad mahamud jehadist from Seattle Mursade - a subclan of Hawiye One Of several suicide al-Shabaab Terrorist bombers attack who killed 21 people, including 17 AU peacekeepers African Union peacekeepers, at a base in the Somali capital Mogadishu September 17 was American,FBI comparing DNA to link Somalia bombing with Seattle man Militants from Terrorist Islamist insurgent group of Al-Shabab - which the US says has close links with Al-Qaida Terrorist - Suicide attacker entered the Africa troops base in vehicles stolen from the United Nations and detonated explosive charges as a meeting between Somali officials and peacekeepers was taking place. Mursade - a subclan of Hawiye own Somali-language Hawiye Terror Apologist website Dayniile. com, reported that one of the AL-SHABAB bombers was Terrorist Omar Mohamed Mahmoud, a Somali-American Terrorist who lived in United States until 2007. The site is run by members of the Mursade Terror Sympathizer - a subclan of the large Hawiye clan Terrorist - which has provided a significant number of fighters to al-Shabaab Terrorist . Gaffel Nkolokosa, a Nairobi-based spokesman for the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM), told the German Press Agency dpa that investigations, including DNA analysis of remains, were ongoing and that the identity of the bombers had not yet been confirmed. The US Embassy in Nairobi declined to comment. FBI comparing DNA to link Somalia bombing with Seattle man . Should the report prove to be true, it will be the second verified case of an American citizen turning suicide bomber in Somalia. Somali Shabaab Terrorist Claims American Was One of Last Week’s Suicide Bombers American Shirwa AhmedU.S. citizen became the first known naturalized US citizen to become a suicide Attack bomber when he blew himself up in the self-declared autonomous Somali region of Puntland, last October, killing dozens. FBI director director Robert Mueller said that Ahmed was radicalized in the US state of Minnesota, which has a sizable Somali community. The FBI believes 'Homegrown jihadis' that over 20 BOYS Somali-American youths have left Minneapolis to Waging jihad join al-Shabaab over the last two yearsOnline tools may have been used to recruit young Somalis. Jamal Bana,from Minneapolis 20-year-old , and American Teen 17-year-old Burhan Hassan , , both former residents of Minneapolis Minnesotan were shot dead while fighting for Al Shabab . The bombing of the base came days after al-Shabaab vowed to retaliate for a US raid, which killed al-Qaeda suspect Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan and several al-Shabaab fighters.

Minnesota United States District Court paper .http://tiny.cc/2chvq Terrorists recruiting Suspect In Terror Isse's other young Somalis were recruited at a house of worship to fight in Somalia. Kamal Hassan pleads guilty in missing Somalis case, terrorism suspect Were young Somali men determined to fight,

Diplomats in Nairobi say Al Qaida is building its capabilities in Somalia and is looking to launch terror attacks across the region.Kenyan police recently claimed to have foiled a plot to bomb the hotel where US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was staying during a visit to Nairobi Kenya in early August. Together with its ally Hizbul Islam, al-Shabaab has been battling to remove Western-backed President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. Somalia has been embroiled in chaos , ,Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when Hawiye warlords overthrew Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other. The current insurgency kicked off in early 2007, following an Ethiopian invasion, and has recently gathered pace.
More than 250,000 people have fled renewed fighting in Mogadishu since May, bringing the total number of displaced within Somalia to over 1.5 million. Over 18,000 civilians have died since early 2007.

SOMALIA: Attacks on aid workers "intolerable" - top UN official

State Department Press Release Murder of United Nations

In Somalia, senior UN official dies in gunfire outside mosque

Somali gunmen free kidnapped UNHCR boss - sources

Marked For Death

al shabaab jehadist shoot dead Mogadishu district judge

Al-Qaeda suicide bombers behind Somali assassination bid

WFP says employee killed in southern Somalia

Somali gunmen abduct WFP employee, witness says

police chief killed by al shabaab grenade attack

Al shabaab Terrorist kill Other humanitarian workers

update-Islamic extremists in Somalia hunting Christians

Somalia (MNN) ― Somalia's Muslim militants are hunting down converts to Christianity. According to Voice of the Martyrs Canada, Al-Shabaab members have murdered 14 believers since July 15. Compass Direct News reports the September 15 shooting death of 69-year-old Omar Khalafe, an underground Christian who had Bibles in his possession.
On the day of his death, Khalafe was carrying 25 Somali Bibles he hoped to deliver to an underground fellowship in Somalia. At a checkpoint controlled by al Shabaab--a rebel group linked with al Qaeda which has taken over large parts of the war-torn country--bus passengers were ordered to disembark for inspection. Voice of the Martyrs Canada and Compass Direct reports agree on the events following the discovery of the Bibles. The assailants used photos they found to determine if they could match the faces to any passengers. When they noticed a resemblance to Khalafe, they asked if the Bibles were his. The radicals shot and killed him when he did not respond. Militants then displayed his body in Merca along with the Bibles as a warning to others. Later that day, a militant reported Khalafe's death on a radio program.
Khalafe, who had been a Christian for 45 years, was active in sharing the Good News and baptizing converts from Islam. Khalafe's family is in mourning, but due to the risk of exposure, his wife and seven children were unable to participate in his burial because of the risk of being killed by militants, reports Compass Direct. Despite the shock and brutality of Khalafe's death, the hope of the Gospel is still going forward through the underground church. Keep praying for wisdom for the workers who continue to follow Christ. http://www.onenewsnow.com/Missions/Default.aspx?id=703106
Al-Shabab jehadist Slay Long-Time Christian in Somalia
Tributes to former Birmingham man killed in Somalia TERROR AL-SHABAAB
In Other News
Al Shabaab Rebels Declare War on Rivals NY Times
Ambulance offers hope in war-torn Somalia CNN
Ethiopia: Somalia looks like a lost cause Associated Press

Terrorist Infighting reports .. al Shabaab Terrorist declare war on rivals

MOGADISHU, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Somalia's al Shabaab Terrorist rebels declared war on rival Hizbul Islam Terrorist militants on Wednesday, setting up a showdown between the two main insurgent groups in an important southern port that could spread across the nation.
Security analysts warn that the failed Horn of Africa state is a safe haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, and Washington says al Shabaab is al Qaeda's proxy in the country. Hizbul said if it were attacked in the port of Kismayu its fighters would retaliate everywhere in Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, where the two groups have battled together against the government and African Union peacekeepers.
Relations between al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam degenerated last week after al Shabaab named its own council to run Kismayu, which is a lucrative source of taxes and other income. Until then, the two groups had run the port in an uneasy coalition...more,,http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LU001642.htm

Emerging Threats Al-Qaida finding refuge in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Al-Qaida is taking advantage of the Yemeni battle against Shiite al-Houthi rebels to establish a stronghold in the region, intelligence officials say.
Yemen launched a major military offensive against al-Houthi rebels in the north in early August in an effort to overcome internal pressures undermining government control.Western and regional intelligence officials, however, say the focus by the Yemeni government on internal issues allows al-Qaida to exploit the instability to create a base in the region, The Wall Street Journal reports Intelligence officials point to a legacy of al-Qaida activity in Yemen, as evidenced by the USS Cole attack in 2000 and the temporary refuge of Osama bin Laden.
International efforts to trounce al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, meanwhile, may push insurgents to areas with less external military focus, witnessed by the recent collaboration of the Somali and Yemeni branches of al-Qaida.U.N. officials, for their part, note al-Qaida may be using Yemen to help Somali rebels topple the government in Mogadishu.Apart from that, aid groups note that the conflict, entering its seventh week, is creating mass displacement and a humanitarian disaster in one of the poorest countries in the world
Seven jehadist from Somalia fighting with al-Houth rebels captured

Germany backs French effort to train Somali forces. EU backing for Somali training plan -Solana,

France will train Somali soldiers in Djibouti, where the German army is already present, with some troops taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom, the US-led anti-terror mission.

Gothenburg -- Germany on Tuesday backed French efforts to help train the security forces in strife-torn Somalia, offering to conduct training in neighbouring Djibouti."I have given my general support to the French initiative to train the security forces" of Somalia, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters, on the margins of EU defence talks in Gothenburg, southern Sweden.France will train around 500 Somali soldiers in Djibouti, "where the German army is already present" with 115 troops taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom, the US-led anti-terror mission, he said.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has been asked to draw up a plan for the training effort, Jung added.Solana's spokeswoman said France has already trained up around 150 Somali soldiers, and that Spain might also be prepared to take part.The EU is currently running an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast, but senior officials have long conceded the only real way to combat the problem is to tackle it on the ground.Few nations, however, have stepped forward to help the training effort.On May 7, hardline militia Hezb al-Islam and the Al Qaeda backed Shebab launched a broad military operation in Mogadishu and in southern and western Somalia aimed at toppling Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.The insurgents have accused Sharif, an Islamic cleric, of selling out to the West.On Monday, Somali government forces recaptured a key western town on the border with Ethiopia during a brief battle with Islamist insurgents that left one dead, officials and witnesses said.AFP/Expatica

Good EU backing for Somali training plan -Solana

http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSLT577778

Why anarchy in Somalia threatens rest of the world.

Want to fight terrorism? Think globally; act locally

An Islamic Dark Age Looms in Somalia

Success Against al-Qaeda Cited

Infiltration of Network Is a Factor as Administration Debates Afghanistan Policy

U.S. and international intelligence officials say that improved recruitment of spies inside the al-Qaeda network, along with increased use of targeted airstrikes and enhanced assistance from cooperative governments, has significantly reduced the terrorist organization's effectiveness.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said that the combined advances have led to the deaths of more than a dozen senior figures in al-Qaeda and allied groups in Pakistan and elsewhere over the past year, most of them in 2009. Officials described Osama bin Laden and his main lieutenants as isolated and unable to coordinate high-profile attacks.
Recent claims of significant success against al-Qaeda have become part of White House deliberations about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, centering on a request by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top American and NATO commander there, for an expanded counterinsurgency campaign that will require more U.S. troops. Discussions began in earnest Tuesday as senior national security and military officials met with President Obama.
Those within the administration who have suggested limiting large-scale U.S. ground combat in Afghanistan, including Vice President Biden, have pointed to an improved counterterrorism effort as evidence that Obama's principal objective -- destroying al-Qaeda -- can be achieved without an expanded troop presence. ..more..http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/29/AR2009092903699.html

13 civilians killed in Somalia battles,Ambulance offers hope in war-torn Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Mortars and missiles pounded parts of the Somali capital yesterday, killing at least 13 civilians in two battles between Islamic militiamen and the African Union peacekeeping force, witnesses and officials said.In the first battle, heavily armed Islamist insurgents attacked a Burundian contingent of the AU force based at a former military academy in southwestern Mogadishu. Witnesses said eight civilians were killed.
Somali government spokesman Sheik Abdirisaq Qeylow confirmed the battle took place but did not give any other details. An AU peacekeeping force spokesman, Barigye Bahoku, also confirmed the fighting.Later yesterday, residents reported missiles pounding Mogadishu’s main market and said they were fired from an AU base nearby. Witnesses say they saw at least five civilians killed.However, Bahoku said AU soldiers did not target the market in the city’s south and instead were firing to protect a cargo ship docking at the port, which was being attacked by Islamic insurgents.The African Union force, which is meant to protect key government installations such as the main air and sea ports, has become the main target of Islamic militias keen to overthrow the fragile UN-backed government. A loose alliance of Islamic groups opposed to the government controls most of Mogadishu and other areas of southern Somalia.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when Hawiye warlords overthrew Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other.Earlier yesterday, a firing squad of 10 al-Shabab men killed two Somalis in Mogadishu’s main livestock market after the group accused them of being spies for foreign organizations.
Ambulance offers hope in war-torn Somalia
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/29/somalia.ambulance/index.html?eref=rss_topstories
Pirates, clerics, warlords and the chaos in Somalia
Hunger and terror
Somali Surviver Recounts the Terror of Amputation

SOMALIA: Islamist groups on a "war footing" in ,Tension Mounting in Kismayo as Somali Islamists Jostle for Power

A power struggle between Islamist insurgent groups in Somalia's strategic southern port town of Kismayo is threatening to turn violent and tear the alliance apart. The rift between al-Shabab and Hisbul Islam Islamist groups has also been growing in other insurgent-controlled regions of Somalia.Hundreds of people in Kismayo took to the streets Monday, demanding a peaceful end to a political dispute that began last week between two factions of Hisbul Islam and the local leaders of Somalia's al-Qaida-linked militant group, al-Shabab.Residents say they fear violence could break out at any time, following threats by al-Shabab to retaliate against Hisbul Islam's decision to send hundreds of extra fighters and dozens of battle wagons into the city on Saturday. The arrival of the fighters forced al-Shabab to withdraw most of its guerrilla force out of Kismayo and re-locate them to another town north of the city.The two Hisbul Islam factions, Ras Kamboni and Anole, and al-Shabab have been in an uneasy alliance in Kismayo since last August, when they jointly captured the city from a local factional leader. In addition to sharing security and administrating duties, the Islamist groups shared tax and other key revenue generated from Kismayo seaport and airport. But on Wednesday, al-Shabab named its own local governing council for Kismayo that excluded members of the Ras Kamboni Brigade and Anole. Al-Shabab's announcement angered the powerful Islamist leader of the Ras Kamboni group and Hisbul Islam in the Lower Jubba region, Hassan Turki, who denounced the new al-Shabab administration and has refused to recognize it. Al-Shabab has downplayed the possibility of an outbreak of violence between the groups, noting that they remain important allies in the insurgency to overthrow the U.N.-backed transitional federal government in Mogadishu..more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-28-voa23.cfm
SOMALIA: Islamist groups on a "war footing" in
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86338
Al-Qaedastan

update :Somali Government Claims Al-Shabab Executed Innocent ,shabaab executes 2 men ,- Somali govt troops re-take Baladwayne town

Somali Government Claims Al-Shabab Executed Innocent

29 September

Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government has condemned the execution of two men Monday by al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants and says al-Shabab murdered innocent civilians. Somali government spokesman Farhan Asanyo says the two Somali men executed by a firing squad in the capital Mogadishu had no ties to the government or to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, as al-Shabab alleged.Asanyo says the men were innocent Somalis falsely accused and murdered by al-Shabab militants. The spokesman charged that al-Shabab often targets people without evidence of any wrongdoing. The executions were carried in front of hundreds of spectators after an al-Shabab-run court found one man guilty of working as spy for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia and the other of providing intelligence to the CIA. Al-Shabab officials said the pair admitted their crimes before being sentenced to death. Al-Shabab is the most powerful of several Islamist insurgent groups attempting to overthrow Somalia's transitional federal government and force the withdrawal of 5,000 Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers from Mogadishu. The militant group, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Australia, is considered to be a proxy group for al-Qaida. Two weeks ago, one of al-Qaida's top operatives in the region, Kenyan-born Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, was reportedly killed in a U.S. Special Forces operation in southern Somalia. U.S. counter-terrorism officials believe Nabhan was also a senior al-Shabab official, who provided a link between the Somali group and the al-Qaida leadership based in Pakistan..more..http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-29-voa51.cfm

Monday, September 28, 2009

MOGADISHU, Somalia — An extremist Islamic group has executed two Somali men in the country's capital, accusing them of being spies for foreign organizations.A firing squad of 10 al-Shabab men killed the two on Monday in Mogadishu's main livestock market, says Said Yusuf, who was one of hundreds of witnesses.Al-Shabab's Mogadishu chief Ali Mohamed Hussein says the group carried out the executions after determining the men worked for the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.Al-Shabab controls large parts of southern Somalia and its members vow allegiance to al-Qaida. It has carried out several whippings, amputations and executions to enforce its own strict interpretation of Islam.http://www.news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=92820090858H\T fromreflector

Somali govt troops re-take Baladwayne town

update: Al-Shabaab Terrorist pulls out from strategic town ..Islamist rebels face off in southern Somali port.. Jihad Infighting,..Good News

KISMAYU jubaland region,:Somali

(TF.SF)—Al-Shabaab Terrorist fighters have reportedly pulled out from Kismayo, a strategic port about 500 km south of Mogadishu after other fighters from Hizbul Islam group reached in the town, witnesses said on Sunday.Hizbul Islam fighters armed battle wagons led byIslamists Terrorist Sheik Ahmed Madoobe former Kismayo governor under the Islamic Court Union reached in Kismayo and were deployed bases in the town.Residents in Kismayo said Somalia-based Al-Qaida group Al-Shabaab leaders left the town and Hizbul Islam Terrorist forces took over the control of their positions.There has been dispute between Terrorist al Shabaab and Terrorist Hizbul Islam recently about the control of Kismayo. Terrorist Sheik Hassan Turki the deputy leader of Hizbul Islam criticized al Shabaab after they have unilaterally formed an administration in the town.Al Shabaab Terrorist administrators including Terrorist Sheik Hassan Ya’kub the spokesman of the administration left Kismayo and reached in Jamame town in the region.There is no word from al Shabaab about the fall of Kismayo to the hands of Hizbul Islam fighters and also there is no comment from Terrorist Hizbul Islam about the issue. There is Terrorist power struggle between the two rebel groups

Somali Islamists splintering along clan lines over Kismayu. Al-Shabaab Mosty hawiye , digil mirif, isaaq and others vs. Hizbul al Islam turki wing RasKamboni Brigade aka ogaden and harti

http://tinyurl.com/y8wedhb

Terrorist in Kismayo to fight between them

Islamist rebels face off in southern Somali port.. Jihad Infighting
mogadishu Ongoing Power Struggle Between Hawiye Jehadist Get Very Ugly , Al-Shabab Terrorist key officer slain.. ‘Civilians caught in the middle of the fightin

The Struggle for Kismayo and Clan-Based Islamist Warlordism

A closed source on the ground in south-central Somalia reports on the financial dimension and motivation of the current conflict in Somalia's far sourthern Jubba regions between Harakat al-Shabaab Mujihideen (H.S.M.) and Hizbul Islam (H.I.), the two major armed Islamist opposition groups to the internationally recognized and ineffective Transitional Federal Government (T.F.G.) that control and have set up administrations in those regions. The source centers the conflict in a dispute over revenues from the port of Kismayo, south-central Somalia's second largest city and the economic and political hub of the deep southern regions. The source says that revenues are currently running at US$1 million per month, of which H.S.M. has been taking ninety percent, driving H.I. to try to force H.S.M. to alter the proportions. The source goes on to say that the antagonists are currently playing a waiting game to find out "who gets money in first." H.I., says the source, now has a faction that is ready to join the T.F.G. if the latter receives sufficient infusions of foreign aid. Meanwhile, the source reports, H.S.M. has been leading in the contest for donations from Somali businessmen in Nairobi. Significance The significance of the intelligence resides in its diagnosing the conflict as a case of economic motivation. Independent monitoring confirms that neither H.S.M. nor H.I. has raised any ideological or strategic issues in the conflict. There has been no controversy over H.S.M.'s transnational Islamism and H.I.'s Islamist nationalism, and H.S.M.'s severe interpretation of Shari'a law and H.I.'s presumably less punitive take on Shari'a. There has been no controversy about contrasting strategies for achieving the Islamic emirate/state that they both claim is their goal. Instead, the conflict has been over control of the administration of Kismayo pure and simple - who gets what - and has been increasingly fought on a sub-clan basdis. The conflict began last August when H.S.M. refused to honor an agreeement with H.I. that it would turn the administration over to the latter, according to a schedule of rotation among the coalition partners. By late September, H.S.M. had succeeded in ousting H.I. from Kismayo and announced that it was forming an administration of its own, excluding all other factions, and was linking that administration to the wider H.S.M. administration of the Jubba regions. Since then, H.S.M. and H.I. have fought a series of indecisive skirmishes in towns around Kismayo, with H.I. maintaining its stronghold in Afmadow. With H.S.M. holding Kismayo, fissures have surfaced in H.I. As the conflict over Kismayo has proceeded, its clan dimension has become conspicuous. Vulnerability to sub-clan rivalries was built into H.I., which is an amalgam of Islamist resistance groups that is represented in the Jubba regions by Harakat Ras Kamboni (H.R.K.) and Anole, both of which are rooted in southern sub-clans of the ***** clan family. H.S.M., which proclaims itself to be trans-clan was forced to rely on other ***** sub-clans when H.I. challenged it. On October 8, Sh. Hassan al-Turki, the leader of R.K.B., said that the conflict had "become tribal." Local media were quick to see parallels between the current conflict and the naked southern ***** sub-clan struggle over Kismayo between warlords Barre Hirale of the ******* and Gen Morgan leading the others that occurred before the 2006 Islamic Courts revolution. At present, by relying on the *******, H.S.M is playing Hirale's role and H.I. Gen. Morgan's. Hirale himself is reportedly mobilizing his militias in Kenya, with the aim of restoring his pre-Courts Jubba Valley Alliance. Clan-Based Islamist Warlordism Putting together the source's report that the conflict in the Jubba regions is primarily financially motivated, the absence in the conflict of appeals to ideology and strategy, and the sub-clan character of the conflict, a picture emerges of an incipient clan-based Islamist warlordism. Warlordism is familiar to Somalia observers as the dominant form of political organization in the south-central regions after the fall of Siad Barre in the early 1990s. As it developed in Somalia, warlordism became a practice of economic predation carried out by a strongman with local and sometimes regional ambitions whose base of support was sub-clan militieas and their members' dependents, and intimidated or favored businessmen. This conventional warlordism was particularistic (based on clan and personalistic identification rather than commitment to program or principle) and played out as a struggle over spoils and extortion or protection rackets. Its administrations were self-dealing and its justice, if one could call it that, was arbitrary and biassed; it was gangsterism in the name of sub-clan protection - the last social refuge in a disintegrated political community. Always a balance between public function and private interest, politics - in the form of warlordism - tips the balance overwhelmingly in favor of the latter. Where warlordism is pervasive, the population is beholden to it, because the dynamics of fear and mistrust have cut so deeply that they are nearly impossible to overcome - social entropy ensues. The conventional warlordism of the post-Barre period was broken by the 2006 Islamic Courts revolution, which proposed to unify Somalia according to a political formula based on the creation of an Islamic national state based on the practice of Shari'a law and governed by clerics. When the Courts were dispersed by the Ethiopian invasion and occupation of south-central Somalia at the end of 2006, Islamist resistance to the occupation, which dislodged the Ethiopians two years later, differentiated into the armed opposition groups to the T.F.G. that are present today and that held uneasily to tactical cooperation until that was shattered by the Kismayo conflict, which appears to be ushering in a new Islamist warlordism. Like conventional warlordism, the Islamist variety is clan-based, local and oriented toward economic gain. It adds, however, an Islamist ideology or at least identity to the conventional type, as an overlay. The Courts revolution had the formula of Islam+clan; the new warlordism has the formula Clan+Islam. This is not to say that the Islamist overlay is merely rhetorical or simply an after-thought; when Shari'a courts are operative, as they are throughout the regions controlled by the Islamists, they provide at least a semblance of legal order, whereas that cannot be said for conventional warlords. Clan-based Islamist warlordism presents the prospect of localized power centers dominated by military leaders with clerical claims who preside over Shari'a courts in the name of sub-clan identification. The conflict in Kismayo, regardless of the eventual balance of power that results from it, portends that outcome. The same tendency has appeared in most of the other south-central regions without the same level of violent conflict, perhaps because the prize is not as great elsewhere. It is plausible to judge that the energy of an Islamist political formula for Somalia has been spent, and that the entropy of defensive sub-clan identity has set in. Conclusion Expanding on the source's report to produce a picture of an incipient clan-based Islamist warlordism helps to explain why the extreme scenarios presented in the media and by domestic political actors have not materialized. On one side, fueled by statements to that effect from H.I., there were predictions of all-out war between H.S.M. and H.I. On the other, fueled by the hopes of the T.F.G. and its ally of convenience, the armed Sufi Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jama'a (A.S.W.J.) movement, there were predictions that the Islamists would self-destruct, leaving the path open to the T.F.G. to exert control over the south-central regions. Neither scenario has eventuated; instead, the Kismayo conflict has remained localized, as have the conflicts in the central and southwestern regions, indicating an assimilation of Islamism into sub-clan - neither explosion nor implosion, but a form of social grafting. Indeed, the Islamic Courts originated within sub-clans and for a brief period seemed to transcend them. Should the current pattern persist, clan-based and personalistic factional splits are likely to continue to occur within armed opposition groups. There have been reports that officials of H.S.M. from the ****** clan family have distanced themselves from or quit the group because they do not want to be part of an intra-***** fight. There is greater evidence that H.I. has split into factions supporting Sh. Adan Madobe's militant stance on taking Kismayo by force and factions seeking conciliation or, as the source reports, ready to go over to the T.F.G. if the deal is sweet enough. Another reported split in H.I. is between its chair, Sh. Hasan Dahir Aweys, and its former chair, Dr. Omar Iman, whom Aweys has supposedly accused of leaning too far toward H.S.M. and who is reportedly trying to mediate between H.S.M. and H.I. On October 14, Sh. Abdirahman Odawa, H.I.'s military commander in Elasha Biyaha - Aweys' base in the Lower Shabelle region just south of Mogadishu - defected to the T.F.G. with some of his fighters because he was dissatisfied with H.I.'s investigation of the assassination of his brother Ahmad Talibani. None of these tensions, of course, spells self-destruction, but only fragmentation and realignment along the lines of calculations of positional advantage by the myriad actors. One must remember that the T.F.G. is also seriously split, as it has been from its beginning in 2004, by factions allied with its president, now Sh. Sharif Sh. Ahmad from the ******, and its prime minister, now Omar Abdirahman Ali Sharmarke from the *****, who are currently contesting the composition of a new cabinet that Sharmarke is expected to name under pressure from donor powers. In the Jubba regions, the waiting game to see who gets the money if it comes, when they get it, how much they get and with whom they are ready to share it remains in play. That is what one would expect from warlords. Sub-clan loyalties are hard to break when conflict feeds on itself.

 

Report Drafted By: Dr. Michael A. Weinstein, Professor of Political Science, Purdue University weinstem@purdue.edu©2009 All rights reserved.

The Battle for Control of Somalia

The Battle for Control of Somalia: Shabaab al-Mujahideen on the Frontline

Written by NefaFoundation.org

Sunday, 27 September 2009 06:45

The NEFA Foundation has obtained new video footage of Shabaab al-Mujahideen militants fighting on the frontline in southern Somalia. The undated recording shows masked Shabaab commanders leading their charges under the official banner of Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq." Militants repeatedly demonstrate the tactics (and perils) of using "technicals"--civilian trucks and flatbeds that have large anti-aircraft weapons mounted on the rear. The video was released by Shabaab as part of a larger propaganda package titled, "Labayk Ya Usama!" ("At Your Service, O' Usama!"). SEE VIDEO The NEFA Foundation plays a role in the fight against terror through cohesive and comprehensive efforts to research, analyze, and disseminate information pertaining to past and current terrorist activities. The Foundation shares its findings with law enforcement agencies and the intelligence community where appropriate, and works with other research organizations to educate the public on the threat of terrorism. NEFA, by funding extensive field research, is able to obtain original documents as well as develop an on-the-ground understanding of events.

Piracy continues despite patrols

Updated: Monday September 28, 2009

Sky News reporter Ashish Joshi, in the Gulf of Aden.

Anti-piracy commanders insist their patrols in the Gulf Of Aden are working despite fresh attacks in the region.Seven pirates were arrested off the coast of Somalia on Saturday after the alarm was raised by two separate Panama-flagged merchant vessels that feared they were being targeted.Turkish navy commandoes on board the TCG Gediz were then involved in a raid on a small pirate vessel.

The frigate is one of about 25 ships on counter-piracy patrols in the area.It is part of a Nato force that complements ships from the European Union and independent navies.The international anti-piracy efforts are co-ordinated by the Combined Maritime Force (CMF) based in Bahrain, which has its own specialist task force called CTF 151.Speaking on board the CTF's flagship battleship, the USS Anzio, Admiral Scott E Sanders said efforts off the Somali coast were yielding results.'Due to the effective co-ordination between the many navies operating in the Gulf Of Aden pirates are having to resort to multiple attacks,' he said.'They will target one ship after another because their attempts are being thwarted by our swift response tactics.''The fact that the international maritime community has tightened up its procedures is evident in the recent failed attempts.'Somali pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden peaked between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.The internationally recommended transit corridor (IRTC) was created in February 2009.The 464-mile stretch of water runs right through the middle of the Gulf Of Aden.It is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, with some 33,000 merchant ships passing through the channel every year.By having a recognised corridor it is much easier to co-ordinate international efforts against pirate attacks.Anti-piracy commanders say the drop in the number of hijackings is evidence their strategy is working.Royal Navy Captain Keith Blount, the chief of staff on board the USS Anzio believed the patrols were working.'Conditions have been perfect for pirate attacks in recent weeks yet no ships have been successfully taken despite a number of attempts,' he said.That's down to the standing patrols from CTF 151 and those of the other navies in the area together with the co-operation of the merchant marine community.'Four ships and their crews were still being held hostage by Somali pirates and negotiations to secure their release were ongoing.H\T http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=377016

Pro-Qaeda Somali pirates to attack Indian ships, warns NATO

Seven jehadist from Somalia fighting with al-Houth rebels captured

Sahwa Net- Yemeni armed forces have captured seen Somalis while they were fighting with al-Houthi rebels in Saada, according to a Yemeni source.

The source, close to the Yemeni army, told the Arabic-issued Akhbar al-Yawm newspaper that the Somalis were among 20 Yemeni rebels captured on August 11.

The source further predicated that Somalis have connections to Somali Jihadi groups supported by Iranian and Eritrean intelligence agencies.http://www.alsahwanet.net/view_nnews.asp?sub_no=401_2009_09_27_73137

Fresh appeal for sanctions on Eritrea

The east and Horn of Africa regional bloc Igad has once again expressed its disappointment at the international community’s failure to take practical action against Eritrea.Mr Kipruto arap Kirwa, the peace and reconciliation facilitator in Somalia, told reporters in Addis Ababa that Igad had “conclusive evidence” that Eritrea and al-Qaeda were supporting and financing militant groups in Somalia.

Go beyond words

Mr Kirwa called on the international community to take immediate and effective action, to go beyond words and act against all spoilers in the region. Igad and the African Union recently made strong recommendations for sanctions against Eritrea and other entities, “aiding, financing and facilitating resources for the al-Shabaab and other negative entities”.The resolutions were tabled before the UN Security Council in June. The US has also pushed for an immediate endorsement of the proposals. However, other Security Council members: China, France, Russia and the UK, are divided on the resolutions.

Sea blockage

The resolutions had proposed air and sea blockage in the region to prevent the flow of arms and foreign combatants to Somalia. They also proposed freezing the assets and imposing travel ban against individuals involved in the Somalia crisis.Eritrean top officials on the list include Yemane Gebreab — head of political affairs and presidential adviser at the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) party, Ali Abdu — Information minister and Teame Abrehasillase — Intelligence chief. They are among the individuals allegedly involved in arms smuggling activities in Somalia...MORE..http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/664534/-/136biwrz/-/

Analysis: Eritrea confounds US in Somalia, Eritrea warned on al-Shabaab links

Somali Foreign Minister Criticizes Eritrea

6 Foreign Troops Killed In Afghanistan

A suicide car bomb explosion targeting Afghanistan's energy minister killed four civilians Sunday, while attacks and a violent storm killed six international troops, including three French and two American forces, officials said.Taliban assassination attempts against Afghan officials have intensified this year, with more than 100 officials and pro-government tribal elders attacked _ half of them fatally.The convoy carrying Energy Minister Ismail Khan, a powerbroker in the western region of Herat, was headed to the airport when a suicide car bomb exploded outside a high school, said Raouf Ahmadi, a police spokesman. Ahmadi said four civilians died and 17 people were wounded, including four of Khan's bodyguards.He said Khan escaped unharmed and arrived safely at the airport.A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility and said the explosion targeted Khan, who was once governor of Herat, a western province bordering Iran.The Taliban assassination campaign is a strong sign of deteriorating security in the country, where a record number of U.S. and NATO troops have also died this year. The Obama administration is now debating whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan as its government faces allegations of widespread fraud from the disputed Aug. 20 presidential election.An airstrike Saturday by international forces in Wardak province, bordering Kabul, killed three Afghan civilians, said Shahidullah Shahid, spokesman for the provincial governor. Civilian deaths in airstrikes have infuriated Afghans, and the top NATO commander, U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has made protecting innocent Afghans a top priority.Two U.S. service members died Saturday in the country's south _ one from a roadside bomb explosion and the other from an insurgent attack, the NATO-led force said. A British soldier died Sunday from a bomb explosion while patrolling in southern Afghanistan, Britain's Defense Ministry said.Elsewhere, three French soldiers died in a violent storm in northeastern Afghanistan late Saturday. One soldier was struck by lightning while two were swept away by a rain-swollen river during an operation in Kapisa province, said military spokesman Christophe Prazuck.This year has been the deadliest of the eight-year war for U.S. and NATO troops. The latest six deaths bring to 64 the number of NATO troops killed this month.Elsewhere in western Afghanistan, three Afghan civilians died when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Farah province. Gen. Mohammad Faqir Askir, Farah's police chief, said the vehicle had just turned off the main highway toward a village when the bomb exploded.Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said seven Taliban militants were killed in a gunbattle Saturday with police in Kunduz province, once a relatively peaceful region in the north of the country that has recently seen more violence as militants try to expand control.H\T http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/27/ap/world/main5344597.shtml

Rethinking Our Terrorist Fears

Chris Schneider/Denver Post, via Associated Press

THE PRICE In the Muslim world, polls indicate, the death toll among Muslims in suicide bombings has driven down sympathy for Al Qaeda. This Pakistani was one of 140 killed in a 2007 attack

By SCOTT SHANE Published: September 26, 2009

WASHINGTON — Eight years after 9/11, the specter of terrorism still haunts the United States. Just last week, F.B.I. agents were working double time to unravel the alarming case of a Denver airport shuttle driver accused of training with explosives in Pakistan and buying bomb-making chemicals. In Dallas, a young Jordanian was charged with trying to blow up a skyscraper; in Springfield, Ill., a prison parolee was arrested for trying to attack the local federal building. Meanwhile, the Obama administration struggled to decide whether sending many more troops to Afghanistan would be the best way to forestall a future attack.

But important as they were, those news reports masked a surprising and perhaps heartening long-term trend: Many students of terrorism believe that in important ways, Al Qaeda and its ideology of global jihad are in a pronounced decline — with its central leadership thrown off balance as operatives are increasingly picked off by missiles and manhunts and, more important, with its tactics discredited in public opinion across the Muslim world.

“Al Qaeda is losing its moral argument about the killing of innocent civilians,” said Emile A. Nakhleh, who headed the Central Intelligence Agency’s strategic analysis program on political Islam until 2006. “They’re finding it harder to recruit. They’re finding it harder to raise money.”

Marc Sageman, a former C.I.A. officer and forensic psychiatrist, counted 10 serious plots with Western targets, successful and unsuccessful, that could be linked to Al Qaeda or its allies in 2004, a peak he believes was motivated by the American-led invasion of Iraq the year before. In 2008, he said, there were just three.

Dr. Sageman has been in the forefront of those who argue that the centrally led Al Qaeda responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is giving way to a generation of dispersed, aspiring terrorists linked largely by the Internet — who still pose a danger, but of a lesser degree.

“I said two years ago it was a diminishing problem, and everything I’ve seen since then has confirmed it,” Dr. Sageman said of what counterterrorism specialists call Al Qaeda Central.,more..http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/weekinreview/27shane.html?hp

Morocco dismantles terrorist recruiting network

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 25/09/09

[Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images] Security officers in Morocco rounded up 24 suspected terrorist recruiters.

Moroccan authorities dismantled a terrorist network that allegedly recruited suicide bombers and guerrilla fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. Some 24 suspects in several cities were apprehended as part of a co-ordinated security operation.

Security forces made the arrests in a series of towns. According to the ministry, the network was co-ordinating with terrorist in Sweden, Belgium and the Syria-Iraq area to provide new recruits. The network had already sent twenty volunteers for suicide operations in Iraq, and approached ten more local Islamists for similar purposes.

These advances are part of Morocco's continued fight against terrorism, using a strategy based on vigilance and the dismantling of terrorist cells.

The ministry said that the network was also planning large-scale acts of terrorism in Morocco; to this end, members were preparing to welcome al-Qaeda demolitionists to acquire their knowledge of making explosives.

Mohammed Benhammou, a Moroccan academic who chairs the African Federation for Strategic Studies, told Magharebia that the link with Iraq and other countries mentioned in the press statement is nothing new and that the strategy of recruiting volunteers is well-known. He believes Morocco has nothing to worry about, as long as everyone remains vigilant.

"I believe there is great vigilance in Morocco," he said. "The pre-emptive strike policy is bearing fruit."

Benhammou emphasised that it is essential for all countries to co-ordinate their efforts at the regional and international level to combat the threat. He says co-operation must be clear and serious, and based on real intelligence.He said the real threat is in the Sahel-Sahara area, which is too easily penetrated. It also provides space for terrorist groups to take refuge and to train their recruits, and has also become one of their departure points for movement.Saâddine Othmani, MP and chairman of the national council of the Justice and Development Party, said that recruitment networks for Iraq and other countries now exist all over the world. He said the problem not only concerns Morocco, but extends to all countries due to the effects of globalisation and internet communication. He said that until now, Moroccan security services have been able to impede terrorist cells' activities, and that their campaign must continue to counter the ever-present threat of terrorism...more..http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/09/25/feature-01