Via Militaryphotos.net.
On Sunday, two bombs exploded in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people while they were watching the World Cup finale. The Somali Islamic group Al Shabab claimed responsibility, calling the attack retaliation for Uganda deploying peacekeepers to Somalia and “massacring” civilians.
The attack underscored the deepening failure of the Somali state and heightened fears that the country might become a major base for Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists. For years, the U.S. has quietly struck at suspected Al-Qaeda cells in Somalia with commandos, drones and cruise missiles. In 2006 Washington provided logistics and air cover as Ethiopia swept through Somalia in a failed bid to disarm Al Shabab. The rise of Somali extremists has forced the State Department to suspend a program to resettle Somali refugees in the U.S.; last year, several dozen Somali-American youths sneaked back into Somalia to serve in Al Shabab. Several died. Others are in detention in the U.S. after fleeing the extremist group.
With pressure mounting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, are East Africa and Yemen becoming the new center of gravity for Islamic terrorists? While we mull that prospect, here’s a survey of War Is Boring‘s recent stories on Al Shabab:
* Who exactly are Al Shabab? The short answer is, we don’t really know for sure.
* Is there any connection between Al Shabab and Somali pirates? In a word, no.
* Did Al Shabab play a role in the kidnapping and torture of two Western journalists? Maybe, maybe not.
* Minnesota has become the focus of investigations into Somali-American youths sneaking back to Somalia to join Al Shabab.
* Al Shabab has targeted Somali journalists for assassination. War Is Boring readers saved one of their victims through donations.
* In December Al Shabab wiped out a slew of Somali government ministers, reporters and doctors in a dramatic suicide bombing. A War Is Boring contributor barely survived the blast.
* Al Shabab is monkeying with U.N. food aid in Somalia, endangering millions.
Related posts:
- World Politics Review: Navies Conflate Terrorists, Pirates
- Somali Insurgents Claim Boost from Yemen
- World Politics Review: Uganda at Security Crossroads in War on Extremists
- Somali Shabab Strikes Back after U.S. Raid
- Columbia Journalism Review: Somalia’s Dark Days
- Danger Room: Once an Extremist Importer, Somali now Exporting Terror
- U.S. Navy Conflates Pirates, Insurgents and Terrorists (Updated)
Well, we know who they used to be, at least: The sheaf from the wheat that was the Union of Islamic Courts, the radical “youth” of a broader Islamist movement, that now lives on in parts in the new GNU. In one metaphor: The lost sons.
That little boy looks like he’d be a member of the math club and picked last for dodgeball in a different context. But here is, armed to the teeth in a uniform that is clearly many sizes too large, ready to kill people. Crappy world.
[...] spokesman for the Somali Islamic group Al Shabab told reporters his forces have been bolstered by fighters from Yemen. “We have received [...]