DTN News: Suicide Bombing Kills Somali Security Minister As Islamists Mount Assault On Mogadishu

DTN News: Suicide Bombing Kills Somali Security Minister As Islamists Mount Assault On Mogadishu

*Source: The Jamestown Foundation By Andrew McGregor

(NSI News Source Info) June 27, 2009: A June 18 suicide bombing at the entrance of a hotel in the Somali town of Beled Weyne (the provincial capital of Hiraan province) killed Somalia’s Minister of Security, Colonel Umar Hashi Adan, the former Somali ambassador to Ethiopia, Abdikarim Farah Laqanyo, and at least 18 others (al-Jazeera [Doha], June 19; al-Arabiya [Dubai], June 18). Responsibility for the blast was claimed by al-Shabaab spokesman Shaykh Ali Mahmud Raage (a.k.a. Shaykh Ali Dheere); "One of our Mujahedeen went with his car laden with explosives to a building where the apostate and other members from his group had been meeting… The apostates have been eliminated; they all died in the suicide attack” (AFP, June 18).

Another Shabaab spokesman, Ali Muhammad, told al-Jazeera: “I bring Muslims the joyful news of the destruction of one of the pillars supporting God's enemies. God guided the mujahideen to a successful attack on an enemy stronghold, in which some of the leaders of apostasy were killed, including Ethiopia's primary agent - the [Somali] security minister - and Ethiopian Army officers. It was a martyrdom operation that was executed by a mujahid hero affiliated with the Mujahideen Youth Movement [the full name of al-Shabaab] (al-Jazeera, June 18). Ali Muhammad warned of a wave of suicide bombings against traitors and foreign forces in Somalia.

Al-Shabaab fighters outside of Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab insurgents, seen, in a vehicle, which they claim was defected from the Somali government side, in Mogadishu, Somalia. Somali Islamist group of Ahlusunna seized Guriel town in central Somalia after a brief battle with Al-shabaab fighters, residents said

The attack in Beled Weyne occurred at the end of a meeting between Somali government officials and Ethiopian military officers intended to discuss means of reversing the progress of the Islamist opposition coalition and preserving the diminishing government of President Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad. Al-Shabaab is the only Somali faction known to use suicide attacks. The timing of the attack and its target was a clear warning to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that al-Shabaab will strike at anyone thought to be negotiating a return of the Ethiopian military to Somalia.

Carried out by three men in a Toyota, the attack on the Madina Hotel was carefully timed, occurring just as Colonel Umar Hashi was leaving the hotel with the Ethiopian army officers with whom he had been meeting. They were on their way to their vehicles in the hotel parking lot when the suicide bomber drove up to the entrance of the hotel before detonating the explosives. The 20 killed included a number of senior Ethiopian and Somali military officers (including Colonel Umar Hashi’s brother), government officials, local Beled Weyne security men and several civilians (Somaaljecel.com, June 18). The Security Minister was a native of Beled Weyne and there is speculation his death and the death of a number of other local authorities in the suicide bombing may galvanize the resistance of local clans to al-Shabaab in the Hiraan region (al-Jazeera, June 18).

A major battle was fought in the Hodan district of Mogadishu the day before the attack, killing 26 people, including Mogadishu’s police commander. Thirteen people were killed when a mortar shell struck a mosque (AFP, June 17). The fighting was Hizb al-Islam’s response to TFG attacks on Hizb al-Islam military bases in Hiraan region the day before (Shabelle Media Networks, June 17). The Hizb al-Islam – al-Shabaab coalition has penetrated parts of the capital and is mounting a fierce campaign to dislodge the TFG and those Islamists supporting President Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad. Hizb al-Islam is itself a coalition of Islamist groups that grew out of the earlier Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia-Asmara (ARS-Asmara). It is led by Shaykh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the former chairman of ARS-Asmara and a long-time rival of President Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad (the former leader of ARS-Djibouti).

Arms are being distributed to members of the President’s Hawiye clan, many of them streaming into Mogadishu from areas outside of the capital. Hizb al-Islam and al-Shabaab have also been reinforced in Mogadishu by new fighters arriving from the provinces, including a column from the Shabaab-held port city of Kismayo (AllPuntland.com, June 17).

TFG MP Asha Ahmad Abdalla accused the president of hypocrisy for inviting the return of Ethiopian troops against whom he led a jihad only a short time ago, as well as for bringing warlords back into the government. "Sharif has led Somalia into carnage that is worse than the one committed by Ethiopian troops when they were in the country. He has revived warlords whom we know had caused suffering in the country" (Gobolada.com, June 18).

The MP was undoubtedly referring to the appointment of former warlord Shaykh Yusuf Muhammad Siad “Indha Adde” as the new Somali State Minister of Defense. Following the appointment, the government is reported to have handed most of its arms over to Indha Adde (Waaga Cusub, June 18). As a member of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in December 2006, Indha Adde invited jihadis from all over the Muslim world to “continue their holy war in Somalia” (Shabelle Media Networks, December 23, 2006). The TFG parliamentary speaker, Shaykh Adan Muhammad Nur, issued a request for foreign intervention on June 20; “We ask neighboring countries - including Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Yemen - to send troops to Somalia within 24 hours” (al-Jazeera, June 22). Ethiopian soldiers in central Somalia have told local residents they are looking for “foreign troops” threatening Somalia (Mareeg.com, June 22). Addis Ababa denies sending troops back into Ethiopia, saying it would need an international mandate to do so, but admitted earlier to carrying out “reconnaissance missions” inside Somalia (Reuters, June 12). There are reports that the 4,300 African Union (A.U.) peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi have become involved in the fighting as part of their mandate to protect strategic sites in Mogadishu (al-Jazeera, June 22). The President blamed foreign terrorists for the Beled Weyne attack, an accusation that was backed up by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke. “Somalis have no expertise to carry out this [kind of] attack; this was the work of foreigners” (AFP, June 18). Shaykh Sharif Shaykh Ahmad said al-Qaeda was behind the bombing and suggested Somalia was under attack from mercenaries and al-Qaeda terrorists from Iraq and Afghanistan (Shabelle Media Network, June 18; AllPuntland.com, June 18). Al-Shabaab maintains that the suicide bomber was a Somali man named Muhammad Deerow Shaykh Adam. TFG parliamentary speaker Shaykh Adan Muhammad Nur claims the Islamist opposition forces in Mogadishu are being led by a Pakistan al-Qaeda operative based in the capital’s Sanna neighborhood, but has provided no evidence to support this claim (al-Jazeera, June 22).

With the TFG on the verge of collapse, the President and his ministers are identifying foreign elements as the main threat to their regime in the hopes of rallying international support, but the real threat is coming from the President’s former comrades in Somalia's Islamic Courts Union, such as Hizb al-Islam leader Shaykh Hassan Dahir Aweys.

DTN News: Somalia's al Shaabab Islamists Vow To Fight Any Foreign Troops In The Country

DTN News: Somalia's al Shaabab Islamists Vow To Fight Any Foreign Troops In The Country *Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) MOGADISHU, Somalia - June 22, 2009: Somalia's hardline al Shaabab Islamists will fight any foreign troops that come to the aid of the Horn of African government, a spokesman for the insurgent group said on Sunday. A Islamic fighter is seen through a hole caused by shrapnel in a wall, in Mogadishu, Somalia, Thursday, June 18, 2009, as he man a checkpoint. A suicide bombing outside a hotel in western Somalia killed at least 20 people Thursday, including the national security minister. The Somali president accused al-Qaida of being behind the attack. Somali parliament speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Madobe on Saturday called upon neighboring countries such as Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia to send military help to ward off a raging rebellion. The African Union already has 4,300 peacekeepers in Somalia, but they are under constant attack by the Islamists that want to dislodge the government and impose a strict form of sharia, Islamic law. "We tell our enemy that we do not fear any invasion from outside. We forced Ethiopia to withdraw from Somalia early this year and we shall do the same again," al Shabaab's Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage told a press conference. "We, the Somali young mujahideen, shall fight against any troops deployed here to help the government until our last holy fighter passes away. This is a clear signal that the so called government established by the enemy had totally failed." Ethiopia, which had troops in Somalia for two years but withdrew them in January, said on Saturday it would only send in help under a mandate from the international community. But residents close to the border with Ethiopia say their neighbor already has troops in their country. Kenya said on Friday it would not sit by and allow the situation in its neighbor to deteriorate further because it would destabilize the region. Somali government soldiers ride on the back of an armed pickup truck next to the frontline where government troops are still fighting with hardline Islamist insurgents for the capital Mogadishu on June 21, 2009. Somalia's radical Islamist Shebab armed group warned on June 21 against any foreign military intervention after the government pleaded for help. Somalia's Parliament Speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur on June 20 urged neighboring countries to send troops to his country within 24 hours to prop up the government. Countries in the region as well as Western nations fear that if the chaos continues in Somalia, groups with links to al Qaeda will become entrenched and threaten the stability of neighboring countries. The U.S. has al Shaabab on its list of terror organizations. "God will help us to overcome all enemies and we believe we shall defeat them. We are not worried about their quantity and whatever weapons they have," Rage said. His group has intensified attacks against the government since May and killed two legislators this week, including the security minister. Some 300 people have been killed since May 7, in fighting residents say is the worst for years. The Horn of Africa country has experienced violence for close to two decades.

Ethiopian Forces Return To Somalia

Ethiopian Forces Return To Somalia

(NSI News Source Info) MOGADISHU - May 19, 2009: Ethiopian forces, who pulled out of Somalia in January, on Tuesday crossed back into the war-torn neighbour following a fresh offensive by rebels to topple the fledgling government, witnesses said. But Ethiopia denied returning to Somalia. Witnesses in Kalabeyrka village, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border with Ethiopia, on Tuesday reported seeing troops in dozens of armoured vehicles mounting roadblocks. "Ethiopian forces have been checking vehicles in the Kalabeyrka area. They were asking people where they came from but they were not arresting anybody," said Abdurahman Afey, a truck driver. Ethiopia's state minister for communications Ermias Legesse told AFP: "No Ethiopian troops have entered Somalia." Another witness, Mohamed Sheikh Abdi said: "I have seen Ethiopian forces manning checkpoints in Kalabeyrka. They were many and there were also armoured vehicles including big trucks mounted with anti-aircraft weapons." While admitting that the situation in Somalia was deteriorating, Ethiopian Communications Minister Bereket Simon on Monday ruled out re-deployment. "We are not contemplating going back there for the moment," he said. "For the moment there is no immediate danger to Ethiopia." "There is no change in the situation," added Legesse. Kalabeyrka is located near Beledweyne, the regional capital of Hiran region in central Somalia, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Mogadishu. Beledweyne is controlled by militias loosely allied to Sharif's government. Fierce clashes between hardline Islamist insurgents and government troops erupted earlier this month and in two days this week the rebels have seized two key towns north of Mogadishu, sparking fears they would advance to Beledweyne. The rebel onslaught has been led by the Shebab, a hardline faction accused of links to Al-Qaeda, and Hezb al-Islam, a more political radical group loyal to senior opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys. The fighting that began on May 7 has killed at least 110 people and displaced some 30,000, mainly in Mogadishu. Government forces in the capital only control a compound housing the president's office and a few ministry buildings, as well as the airport and the seaport, according to witnesses. The international community has called for an end to the fighting, accused Eritrea of providing support to Aweys' forces and urged all sides to spare civilians. Ethiopian troops rolled into Somalia in late 2006 to buttress an embattled government against an Islamist movement then led by now Somalia President Sharif Shekh Ahmed and Aweys. Their withdrawal sparked fears of a security vacuum as fighters of the toppled Islamist movement waged relentless battles against them, government targets and a small African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu. While Sharif later joined a UN-sponsored reconciliation process and was eventually elected president in January, Aweys has remained in the opposition and returned from exile last month to challenge his former ally. Insurgents now control much of southern and central Somalia, with forces loyal to the internationally recognised government pushed back to a few remaining pockets in Mogadishu and close to the Ethiopian border. The Horn of African country has lacked a central authority since the 1991 ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre sparked violence.