Friday, December 7, 2012

Al-Shabab militants still roam countryside in Somalia

KISMAYO, Somalia — On the four-mile stretch of paved road between the Kenyan army’s main base and the southern Somali city of Kismayo, a man leading a donkey cart whispered a short warning in the local Somali language as a fleet of Kenyan troops and allied Somali militiamen rolled past.
“Watch out,” the man, who gave only his first name, Adan, in the brief encounter, told a McClatchy Newspapers correspondent. “There might be bombs on the road ahead.”
When told of the exchange minutes later, a Kenyan soldier growled. “These people work with al-Shabab,” said the officer, who never gave his name. “They know where bombs have been planted, but they won’t tell us. Don’t trust them.”
In Kenya, the news that its army has captured Kismayo, the longtime stronghold of the al-Qaida-affiliated rebel group al-Shabab, had been trumpeted as a resounding victory against a defeated Islamist militant network.
But, on the ground, the truth is much muddier. It’s clear that al-Shabab had been weakened, but also that it is far from vanquished and that it is regrouping for a long-term guerrilla insurgency.
When Kenya crossed into Somalia in October 2011, Kismayo was the goal — the financial nerve center for a rebel administration that covered most of southern and central Somalia. Since its capture in late September, however, Kenya has boasted of its conquest but blocked access to the city for foreign reporters.
A visit to Kismayo this week reveals perhaps part of the reason why: Kenyan soldiers rarely venture into the city’s center and remain holed up instead in bases at the seaport and at airstrips north and south of the city. With al-Shabab fighters able to melt in and out of civilian life with relative ease, Kenyan soldiers struggle to identify friend from foe.
Outside the city, the war is far from over. Al-Shabab still controls much of the countryside, and at night, the pop and thump of firefights rage until dawn. The Kenyan military says al-Shabab frequently carries out hit-and-run attacks at night. The fighting seemed especially concentrated toward Anjeel, a village a few miles from Kismayo that was supposedly wrested from al-Shabab control.
At the southern airstrip, troops fan out on foot to secure a three-mile radius before incoming aircraft land, leery of unseen enemies in the bush.
“You must have a defensive line around the airport so that we can avoid attacks from all directions,” said Kenyan Maj. Nicholas Adongo.
To the north of the city, a Kenyan commander pointed further north toward the town of Jilib, which al-Shabab still holds and from which it often launches attacks, most recently a mortar barrage on Nov. 25.
“We are waiting for commanders to tell us to move forward,” said Lt. Col. William Lenterakwai Ole Kamoiro.
In Kismayo, people are slowly returning to their homes, and businesses are reopening. In place of al-Shabab, Kenya’s Somali allies, the Ras Kamboni militia under warlord Ahmed Madobe, now rule the city under a form of martial law.
Speaking freely is still dangerous. After seeing a McClatchy correspondent interviewing a civilian without a translator, a Ras Kamboni port supervisor broke up the interview and tried to confiscate the correspondent’s notebook and recorder. A Kenyan military escort asked the correspondent to return to the armored personnel carrier for his own safety.
At a village just south of Kismayo, village chief Hassan Abdi said that, at this point, he and his neighbors were too focused on survival to care much anymore which men with guns were now in charge.
“We work with everyone who controls the city. I worked with al-Shabab, and this is no different. We have no choice,” he said.  via Stars and Stripes

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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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