Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Somalia's al Shabaab increases Kenya border raids

WAJIR Kenya (Reuters) - Hardline Islamists from Somalia are increasingly launching cross-border raids into Kenya's remote north east despite a heightened state of alert there, local residents and officials said.

Kenya has long cast a wary eye at its anarchic neighbour where first clan warlords and now Islamist insurgents have reduced government to impotence.Now in Kenya's arid North Eastern province, there is talk of an increase in gun-battles between al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fighters and rival Somali militia groups bent on control of parts of southern Somalia.
At the Dadachabulla border post, local elder Mohamed Barre Ali said people were living under constant threat of cross-border attacks from al Shabaab. The rebels control swathes of central and southern Somalia as well as much of the capital Mogadishu."Last month they attacked a hotel, spraying bullets all over the place for over two hours," Ali told Reuters. Three people were abducted during the raid while the hotel owner's young daughter was shot in the thigh.
"It was not the first raid and it will not be the last. They issued another warning they would attack us two days ago," he said pointing to bullet-pocked houses and cars.In July, Kenyan troops clashed with al Shabaab fighters along the Somali border amid reports both sides were sending reinforcements to the area.Twice hit by al Qaeda-linked attacks, Kenya has trained thousands of Somali recruits to beef up troops loyal to Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, drawing condemnation from al Shabaab.But it is the alleged support of al Shabaab's enemies that is proving controversial along the frontier.
CREATING A BUFFER ZONE
Kenya's failure to flush out the Somali militiamen fighting al Shabaab might in fact be a strategic decision to help keep al Shabaab at bay, a local politician and a military source told Reuters."A section of local leaders have colluded with Somali militants and have sanctioned the use of their fighters to hold al Shabaab back and create a buffer zone," a retired military official told Reuters in the border town of Liboi.He said the frequency of attacks had increased, with six raids in or near Liboi in July."They (insurgents) have opened up new battle grounds in parts of Kenya's territory. It is a serious security issue which confirms Kenya's direct involvement. Our government must stay out of this conflict," he said.
Since early 2007, Somalia's Islamist insurgents have focused their energies on toppling the government, a fragile, Western-backed interim administration that is riven by internal bickering.Some 6,300 African Union peacekeepers are supporting Somalia's poorly equipped, poorly paid and often unmotivated troops, but they are effectively limited to guarding Mogadishu's port and airport and shielding the president from rebel attacks.Last month, however, al Shabaab ramped up the regional security threat they pose with a bomb attack on the Ugandan capital that killed 79 people while they were watching the soccer World Cup final on television.
The strike, their first on foreign soil, was in revenge for Uganda's deployment of peacekeepers to Somalia, the group said.Kenya too has been threatened in the past and there are fears its support of local Somali militia and the simmering violence in the north could drag east Africa's largest economy into Somalia's festering conflict.
Not wanting to be named, a local politician said al Shabaab's incursions into border towns such as Liboi, Dadachabulla and Hulugho would continue until the Kenyan authorities stopped supporting the Somali militia groups."Al Shabaab threaten to attack us every day. They are angered because their rivals are using our country to fight them," the politician said. "It's suicidal to discuss with anybody or express discomfort with their presence."
PREVENTING SPILLOVER

Provincial officials said the clashes along the border had forced Somali combatants to flee into Kenya but denied that the militants were being actively backed."Kenya has no interest at all to engage or support any militant Somali group. Our main concern, and we have been successful, has been to prevent the fighting, which happens very close to us, from spilling inside our territory," Gabriel Risie, district commissioner of Wajir South, told Reuters.An intelligence source in the region said a heightened security presence had stymied al Shabaab's recruitment efforts inside Kenya.Earlier this year, the United States voiced concerns the Dadaab refugee camp, 90 km (55 miles) from the Somali border and home to more than 280,000 Somali refugees, might be a recruiting ground for al Shabaab.For many youths holed up in the camp's flimsy shacks made of sticks and plastic sheeting, however, there is mounting anger towards the Islamists for perpetuating violence at home and threatening their lives as they seek refuge abroad."Only a mad person supports the militia groups in Somalia. We fled Somalia but they are still creating problems for us," said one, fearful of retribution if he identified himself.

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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