Al-Shabaab Militants in Somalia seize 5 Islands: Advance on Kenyan Border

by Eric Dondero: Islamic Militarism is on the rise throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Muslim insurgents are pushing further and further southward on all fronts. Nigeria, home to Flight 253 Terrorist Bomber Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab , has become almost entirely Muslim-dominated, except for the City of Lagos, and surrounding suburbs. The eastern part of the Continent is also suffering under an increasing Islamic onslaught. And the center for the Muslim insurgency is Somalia. Al-Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda linked Militant Islamic group out of Somalia, has now taken full control of all southern provinces from government troops. Witin the last few days they have seized 5 islands off the Kenyan coast. In areas controlled they are quickly imposing Sharia Law in the strictest sense. Speaking from one of the islands seized - Raskamboni Island - an Al-Shabaab spokesmansaid (via NewstimeAfrica.com): "We arrived here to implement the Islamic law, and this is kind of extending our rule into more lands in Somalia. The Mujahideens have realized their grip on all southern regions in Somalia and in the near future we hope to govern all Somalia under the holy Quran rule." Meanwhile, Kenya has reacted by sealing off their border completely. Border tensions increase between Kenya and Somalia From AllAfrica.com: Nairobi — The government has stepped up security along the Kenya-Somalia border to ward off security threats posed by militias that have taken control of most of the war ravaged country. Administration Police commandant Kinuthia Mbugua said on Wednesday that Kenya's border with Somalia was now under intense security following these threats, including specialized team operations patrolling the Indian Ocean. "There was the initial threat posed by piracy but extremist groups in Somalia have now compounded the security problem at our border with the country and we have imposed heavy security border patrols," he said. Kenya falling to the advance of Islam: Threats from within and without Kenya itself has been suffering through an increasing amount of ethnic violence, between Muslim-dominated Tribes and members of the Kikuya Tribe. Two years ago, the ruling Christian party was forced into a power-sharing arrangement by Luo Tribe leader Raila Odinga. From the Washington Post, Dec. 23: Odinga accused Kibaki, who is Kikuyu, of stealing the 2007 presidential election. What followed has been described by investigations as a well-planned bloodbath... Odinga's supporters then "burned houses and farms and otherwise drove Kikuyus out of the Rift Valley with bows, arrows and machetes." In one village they surrounded a church and burned alive 600 parishioners. When the violence subsided by some accounts over 3,000 had been killed. Today the situation is threatening to flare up yet again. Compounding the problem, Al-Shabaab, rumored to be aligned with some Kenyan Muslim factions, are threatening cross-border incursions. Continuing from WaPo: Despite a power-sharing deal and a reform agenda intended to rescue this nation from collapse, the situation remains dangerously volatile... With Kenya's eastern neighbor, Somalia, at war with al-Qaeda-linked rebels and its northwestern neighbor, Sudan, sliding toward civil war, U.S. officials say a stable Kenya is more crucial than ever. But the coalition government of President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader turned prime minister Raila Odinga has remained entrenched in the divisive tribal politics that led to the ethnic violence. Director of the Kenyan group Centre for Human Righs and Democracy, Ken Wafula said: "Unless something is done, we are waiting for an explosion that would be very disastrous." Key - Map highlights increasing encroachment of Islam through Sub-Saharan Africa. Areas in Green are Muslim-dominated. Shaded Green areas are new areas of Muslim influence