Minister claims senior Al-Qaeda arrive in Somalia

A Somali minister claims that at least 12 senior Al-Qaeda operatives have reached war-torn Somalia to assess the security for a possible relocation into the Horn of African country.Somalia’s Treasury Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman (Yarisow) said they have received credible information that the terrorists have entered the country through Yemen and Eritrea in the last few weeks.“Some of these fellows came all the way from Yemen through the waters while others flew from Eritrea and all are currently in Somalia,” he said.
“They have come to assess the situation on the ground for a possible relocation of Al-Qaeda’s biggest military bases to Somalia since they are facing a lot of pressure in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he added.He however did not categorically state the nationalities of the operatives but requesting the international community to urgently intervene.Somalia’s embattled president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed has previously warned that Al-Qeada is relocating to his war-torn country in a bid to use as a safe haven and carry out terror attacks. Yemeni government recently claimed that some Al-Qaeda operatives have fled to Somalia after coming under intense pressure due to military offensives in the northern regions.Somalia's Al Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabaab insurgent group is waging bloody war against the UN-backed government and African Union troops in Mogadishu.