http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Kenyan+forces+go+after+raiders+inside+Somalia+/-/1056/1256606/-/2c40b7/-/index.html

Kenyan forces were on Sunday operating deep inside Somalia with orders to make sure there are no al Shabaab extremists within 100 kilometres of the border.
Units from the Kenya Army are understood to have crossed into Somalia at Liboi and Mandera with orders to fight their way into the lawless country and create a buffer zone to ensure that insurgents do not launch attacks against Kenya.

Kenya Air Force and the Navy will be sent out as the need arises, security sources told the Nation.

Soldiers actually crossed into Somalia days before the announcement by Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and Defence Minister Yusuf Haji. (READ: Kenya declares war on Al Shabaab)

Internal Security permanent secretary Francis Kimemia said security forces had drawn up strategies to defeat al Shabaab in their own land.

“How it will be done, the number of troops involved and where they will strike remains a preserve of the military. We can’t give information that would be useful to the enemy,” he said.

Witnesses have reported military trucks at border points and military choppers in the air. Foreign troops are already on the ground in Somalia, mainly from Uganda and Burundi, under the African Union.

The Federal Transitional Government, the weak authority in Somalia backed by the international community, also has troops trained in Kenya and Uganda and paid for by western donors.

    * We don’t admit terror agents, says UN

“Now we can’t wait for the TFG or Amisom. Article 51 of the UN charter allows us to pursue them. It allows you to hit anybody who hits you or is planning to hit you. “And also allows you to pursue those who have hit and ran away,” Mr Kimemia said.

Kenya has been under sustained provocation from al Shabaab for months, with the al-Qaeda-linked group raiding across the border and, last Thursday, kidnapping two Spanish aid workers at the Daadab refugee camp. (READ: Two Spaniards kidnapped in Kenya likely in Somalia)

French woman Marie Dedieu was kidnapped on Manda Island on October 1 while Mrs Judith Tebbutt, a Briton, was abducted and her husband David shot dead at Kiwayu resort in Kiunga in September.

In all incidents, those captured were taken to Somalia and are being held in al Shabaab bases. Prof Saitoti announced the decision to send troops to Somalia in a press conference on Saturday. He branded Somalia’s al-Qaeda-inspired al Shabaab rebels “the enemy” and vowed to attack them “wherever they will be.”

Helicopter gunships

The military is probably better armed than at any time in its recent history.

Last year, Kenya was reported to have spent Sh27 billion on combat aircraft, helicopter gunships, grenade launchers and other weapons and was Africa’s fourth largest military spender after South Africa, Angola and Sudan.

Kenya can also raise a reasonably large army — last year the Central Intelligence Agency estimated that 20 million Kenyans were available for military service. Out of these, about 12 million men and women were fit for service.

Military sources traced the upsurge in militia activity to August 12, when al Shabaab vanished from Mogadishu overnight, following a sustained assault by AU and Somalia government forces.

It appears that, having lost the war on that front, the extremist group is testing Kenya as a “soft target” for lucrative hostages. Article 51 of the UN Charter, which Kenya is relying on to justify sending its troops across the border, says:

“Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.

“Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.”

Mr Adan Keynan, who is also the MP for Wajir West, said the military should start this process by setting up security posts at intervals of 20 kilometres along the border with Somalia.

Mr Keynan said the action against the al Shaabab would be an opportunity for the army to show Kenyans how well its peacetime army can do its job.

“We have one of the most professionally run disciplined forces in Africa,” said Mr Keynan, adding, the Army would be judged harshly if it does not succeed in pushing away the militia.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the pursuit of the Somalia militia group was on. “We will give the details tomorrow (Monday),” he said.

An AFP reporter close to the border witnessed large numbers of troops as well as military planes and helicopters overhead.

Several witnesses reported heavy troop movement in Kenya’s border regions, with truckloads of soldiers heading towards the frontier. The kidnappings at the Coast have dealt a major blow to the tourism industry.

Speaking when he arrived in the country after an international trip, Tourism Minister Najib Balala said the insecurity caused by Somali militias requires an international solution.



http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/1256552/-/134v7vp/-/index.html

Somalia's Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab rebels on Sunday warned Kenyan soldiers, as they crossed the frontier to attack insurgent strongholds, that they would feel the "pain of bullets."

"Kenya violated the territorial rights of Somalia by entering our holy land, but I assure you that they will return disappointed, God willing," said Sheikh Hassan Turki, a senior Shabaab leader.

"Mujahideen fighters will force them to test the pain of the bullets."

Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said on Sunday that its troops had entered southern Somalia to fight the Shabaab, who it says are responsible for attacks on its territory, including the recent kidnapping four foreigners.

In response, the Shabaab called on Somalis to rally and attack the Kenyan troops. (SEE IN PICTURES: Kenyan military off to war)

"I call on all Somalis to stand united against this blood-thirsty enemy that has crossed into our territories and the apostate Somali militants helping them," Turki added.

Kenya's assault comes a day after its Internal Security Minister George Saitoti branded the extremist Shabaab rebels "the enemy" and vowed to attack them "wherever they will be".

the kenyan army is incapable of defeating alshabab. 7 kenyan soldiers are already dead. 2 drowned while pursuin militants while 5 died when their chopper was attacked. this is just another somalian disaster and now kenya will xperience more attacks nd instability

^^ The media is awash with rumours and that is what the they made us believe at first.

"It crashed while taking off and caught fire, all the five soldiers on board died. It was not brought down," Military Operations Information Officer Major Emmanuel Chirchir said.

He said the crash occurred near Liboi during lift-off on Sunday evening. Liboi is in Kenya.

And no Kenya is not even doing it alone.

Foreign troops are already on the ground in Somalia,(US troops are providing satellite images of the group's exact locations to the Kenyan army as well as logistical support) Other forces are mainly from Uganda and Burundi, under the African Union.

The [b]Federal Transitional Government, [/b]the weak authority in Somalia backed by the international community, also has troops trained in Kenya and Uganda and paid for by western donors.

Kenyan soldiers over the weekend crossed into Somalia and bombarded an Al Shabaab stronghold in Qoqani in lower Juba land which is about 100 kilometers from the Kenya Somali border.
The attack which also involved soldiers of the Transitional Federal government saw Kenyan choppers shell the Al Shabab base at Qoqani. The TFG military officer at Qoqani Hassan Bule said the Al Shabab were driven out and were now headed towards Afmadow.Government spokesman confirmed the the cross-over which other sources say was aided by US forces.

Sources within the army, said Kenya army officers were now overseeing security operations between 50 and 60 kilometers inside Somalia, along the border with Kenya as a way of combating Al- Shabaab and its operations.

Kenya is providing all material support to Somali military officers trained in Kenya and who have been deployed to the front-line and propped from behind by the Kenya army to keep away Al Shabaab fighters. "We have to provide them with everything from uniform to boots to ammunition. Even the food they eat is ours. If we don't do that, they will collapse within a day," the military source said. The offensive launched over the weekend is expected to continue until a peaceful buffer zone is established between Kenya and its northern neighbour.

Sources high in government confirmed that administrators had already been trained to take over the towns and areas liberated from the Al Shabaab militia. The leaders are being trained in Nairobi before they are deployed to these regions. The administrators are in close contact with the country's security agencies such as the NSIS which also provides the administrators with logistical and equipment support. "The international community cannot be relied upon to take the lead because many countries of the West have little interest in Somalia or do not put their money where their mouth is. We have to do this to protect our national security,"

The move follows last week's kidnapping of two Spanish aid workers who were grabbed from the Dadaab refugee camp by Al-Shabaab militias and taken into lawless Somalia. The two women were working as logisticians for the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders).


These elshababs are making the whole region unstable.They have forced their country men,women and children into Kenyan camps and started recruiting young kenyan muslim youths into the group,giving them loads of pirate cash in return.
And just so u know they stand to suffer more. They have invested all their piracy money in Kenya and run mega businesses in the country.
If not checked they can take over a nation because they receive funding from Al queda  in addition to their pirate activities messing up Kenya's tourism Industry in the process.

The most interesting part is that Somali men and women in Kenya support the army in this because they have been made refugees in a neighbouring country for years.
The kids born in camps know no country.Their country is the camp.Pathetic.

KENYAN ARMY FOR MOTHER OF ALL BATTLES.

Kenyan forces are likely to see action in a major battle in the Somali town of Afmadow, 620 kilometres south of Mogadishu, in the coming days.

Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) soldiers, together with allied combatants from Ras Kamboni Brigade and units of the Kenyan military, were on Monday said to be headed there.
“The Kenyan soldiers are heavily armed and they have started digging trenches near Qoqani,” another witness, Mr Abdulahi Sayid Adam, said.

Withdraw troops

Al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage threatened to launch terror attacks in Kenyan cities if Nairobi does not withdraw its troops.

“Kenya has peace, its cities have tall buildings and business is booming there, while Somalia is in chaos. If your government ignores our calls to stop its aggression on Somali soil, we will strike at the heart of your interests,” he said in an address intended for the Kenyan population.

Under growing pressure

Kenya has been under growing pressure to take action and attempt to restore confidence that it could safely host tourists and one of the world’s largest aid communities.


Ok aluta continua.

It seems as though Africa is at war. Its militias and rebels and transitional forces and deaths.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/17/uk-kenya-somalia-idUKTRE79G1TS20111017

(Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants rushed reinforcements to Somalia's southern border with Kenya Monday in response to a Kenyan cross-border offensive and threatened to take the "flames of war" across.
BUFFER ZONE

Keen to avoid a spillover of violence by al Qaeda-trained foreign jihadists seeking haven in Somalia as well as al Shabaab rebels entrenched in the south, Nairobi has considered creating a buffer zone along its border.

Kenya has already trained thousands of newly recruited Somali soldiers to man the frontier. It also provides logistical and intelligence support to Somali government troops and government-friendly militia.

"The Kenyan military strategy looks intent on supporting these military groups," said Rashid Abdi, a Nairobi-based Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15342091 Somali militants al-Shabab threaten Kenya retaliation


Al-Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage told the BBC Somali service that his fighters would attack Nairobi.
Kenyan troops crossed the border at the weekend, supported by helicopters and jet fighters.

There have not yet been any reports of major confrontations, although the Kenyan military said the operation was going well.

"Our team inside Somalia is doing well. So far, we have uprooted al-Shabab from [the district of] Dhobley after air and ground raids," a Kenyan officer told Reuters news agency.

"We are working with other friendly armed groups,  to fight the common enemy, al-Shabab."

Kenyan officials said they wanted to ensure al-Shabab militants were not able to operate anywhere near the two countries' shared border.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Masika Wetangula told the BBC that the troops went across the border at the request of Somalia's transitional government.

"What we are doing is in pursuit of a request by the government of Somalia and also our own interest as a country to fight a group that is terror-based," he said.The transitional government already relies on foreign troops from the African Union.
Al-Shabab, which has been linked to al-Qaeda, has threatened Kenya on several occasions in the past.


They fear to attack Kenya because half of somalia population is in Kenya. They also have biz interest in Kenya.Dumb move.
The rich pirates through 3rd parties own several establishments in some sections of the city and Kenya as a whole.
If Kenya decides to freeze their biz those guys are doomed. What if Kenya decides to flush out all somalis out of the country? because that is what kenyans are saying now.Go back and rebuild their own country because their population is increasing by the day and the camps are overflowing.
Khat (a multi million industry) which is exported to Europe from Kenya is dominated by somali war lords in collaboration with the local farmers.
And tonnes of it gets flown to somalia on a daily basis.

And now Kampala is at it again with its walk to work campaign by one Kizya Besigye Musevenis's big thorn in the flesh.

There's a lot of military activity in the East. crazy world.

And now Kampala is at it again with its walk to work campaign by one Kizya Besigye Musevenis's big thorn in the flesh.

Musevini is threatening to sell the Ugandan rainforest, his suppression of demonstrations will only increase the threat of violence in the future as the opposition gets desperate and more radical elements are allowed to take over.

^That was a one time issue with some investor company.The reason for these protests is the high cost of living.

Since April this year, A4C(Action 4 Change) a pressure group protesting the high cost of living has been engaged in walk to work campaign which has led to running battles with security officers.
“Our mission as FDC is not to remove Mr Museveni from power but to change the nature of Uganda. Coming to power is a means to achieve our mission,” Dr Besigye added.

Protesters in Kampala,Unleash BEES!! on anti-riot police

Two unidentified protesters shocked police when they approached a patrol pick-up on Republic Street and smashed two pot-fulls of bees at them. The insects went wild, stinging the officers as protesters gathered.

The police officers, who were patrolling the street at about 11am, fled the scene as onlookers also scampered for safety. Scores of passengers were left stranded as the bus park remained closed.

Kenyan forces kill 75 somali militias



Kenyan soldiers with the help of the Somali Transitional Federal Government forces announced that they have killed 75 Al-Shabaab terrorists since the Operation Linda Nchi began.

"Kenya’s military is one of the more professional militaries in Africa, with particularly close ties with the British, and the US has helped as well," Thomas Cargill, assistant head of the Africa Programme at the Chatham House research group, said from London.

"They are as well equipped as anyone in Africa, outside of South Africa and Angola."
The troops backed by TFG soldiers have now secured the towns of Qoqani, Tabda and Afmadow in Somalia. No casualties were reported on the Kenyan side and the port of Kismayu on Somalia’s coastline is the next clear target as the war enters Day Five today.

The Kenyan troops are pushing deeper into southern and central Somalia territory to clean out Al-Shabaab strongholds and create space for the TFG to establish its authority beyond Mogadishu, something it has been struggling to achieve over the last four years since it began fighting the Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents.The Kenyan forces and their TFG counterparts secured the towns of Tabda and Afmadow, which is about 120kms east of the Kenyan border.

"The next target is to capture Kismayu. There is no retreat nor surrender until it falls under our control," he added.

Kismayu would be a key target because control of the port gives Al-Shabaab revenue from piracy due to its access to shipping lanes.

On Tuesday, seven Kenyans in a fishing vessel that was hijacked by Somali pirates three days ago overpowered their captors and were rescued from sea by Ugandan soldiers from the Africa Union Mission (Amison) force protecting the TFG government.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000045115&cid=4&ttl=Kenyan%20forces%20kill%2075%20Somali%20militants

Somali rebels fortify defences, blast kills six in capital

Somali militants linked to al Qaeda prepared to defend a town in southern Somalia on Tuesday from advancing Kenyan and government troops, while a suicide car bomb killed six people in the capital during a visit by a Kenyan minister.
Warplanes swooped low over Afmadow, a rebel stronghold which serves as transit point for goods from Kismayu port.

"Al Shabaab has avoided attacks (inside Kenya) so far because it benefits too much from the illegal shipment of goods from Kismayu into Kenya and from financial supporters in the Somali community in Kenya," said David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia.
That is very true

^That was a one time issue with some investor company.The reason for these protests is the high cost of living.

He is threatening again. It came back up. He already removed 25,000 people in order for a British company to take build a tree plantation. Some of those people were killed, almost all of them are now poor.

When you move African people off their lands, to please white people or any foreigner, you have failed your people.

"Kenya’s military is one of the more professional militaries in Africa, with particularly close ties with the British, and the US has helped as well," Thomas Cargill, assistant head of the Africa Programme at the Chatham House research group, said from London.

It is only professional because it associates with the british? Whoops.

^^ It means the British Army has a training centre in Kenya, under agreement with the Kenyan government. It provides training facilities for three infantry battalions per year.
http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/regiments/5882.aspx

British Army Training and Liaison Staff Kenya (BATLSK) is responsible for supporting Infantry battalion group exercises and approximately 3,000 British troops train in Kenya each year in a harsh unforgiving terrain ranging in altitude from 8,000 feet down to 2,300 feet. BATLSK has been based at its present site in Kahawa Barracks since Kenya's Independence in 1963. They involve the kenyan army as they do this.
http://www.armedforces.co.uk/army/listings/l0142.html

The force is a renowned candidate for many united nation peace missions.

The force also leads in the Military transportation sector.

But anyway I dont think that is the focus now.

KENYA TARGETS AL SHABAB LIFELINE

Kenyan military planners have targeted the capture of Kismayu and two nearby secondary ports to cut off billions of shillings earned by al Shabaab to finance their insurgency.

The imminent capture of Kismayu and the secondary ports of Marka and Baraawe will suddenly cut off money earned by al Shabaab from port fees, illegal smuggling of sugar and other commodities to Kenya and the export of charcoal, according to a recent UN report.

It is estimated that al Shabaab earns up to Sh5 billion ($50 million) a year in port fees and Sh6 billion ($60 million) in business taxes.

al Shabaab also levies fees from road checkpoints, human traffickers and gun runners, according to the report.

The Kenyan troops have already captured six towns during their six-day military onslaught against the militants, including the pirates’ haven of Ras Kamboni, Dhobley, Tabda, Beles Qooqani, Oddo and Kolbio

The strategy appears to involve a two-pronged assault on Kismayu using a combined force of the Kenya Navy and the Kenya Army.
Details of how al Shabaab have converted Kismayu and smuggling routes into lucrative money collection centres is contained in the latest UN monitoring group report on Somalia.

The report, released at the end of July, says the group generates between $35 million and $50 million per year from port revenues, of which at least $15 million is based on trade in charcoal and sugar.

This is done through a co-ordinated trading cycle built upon the export of charcoal, which in turn finances the import of sugar, much of which is subsequently smuggled across as contraband into neighbouring countries, particularly Kenya, says the report.

Fraudulent invoicing

“Shipping companies deliver sugar to Kismayu and collect charcoal for the return journeys. Bank accounts in the Gulf States where the profits of this trade are deposited can be used to launder voluntary contributions to al Shabaab through fraudulent invoicing, overvaluing of import proceeds and undervaluing of exports,” reads the report.

This trade cycle is dominated by networks of prominent Somali businessmen operating mainly between Somalia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, notably Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

al Shabaab not only attracts their business by imposing lower rates of taxation in Kismayu than at ports controlled by the Transitional Federal Government but also actively promotes large-scale imports of sugar and exports of charcoal by offering preferential access and tax breaks to al Shabaab affiliated businesses.

“Consequently, many Somali traders avoid Mogadishu, preferring to discharge their cargoes at Kismayu or other ports where import taxes are lower.

“For example, Mogadishu port authorities charge an import duty in the amount of $1,300 on a mid-size vehicle,” reads the report.

At Kismayu al Shabaab charges only $200. Even if e transporter then wishes to deliver the vehicle to Mogadishu, it costs another $200, including driver fees, fuel and miscellaneous expenses, to drive the car from Kismayu to Mogadishu.

“The vast majority of imports via Kismayu are not intended to serve the local population, but are destined for other parts of southern Somalia that could be equally or better served by Mogadishu or be smuggled into neighbouring countries as contraband,” reads the 417-page report.

“The Monitoring Group has confirmed that most commercial motor vessels transporting goods to the port of Mogadishu discharge only part of their cargoes in order to deliver the remainder to Kismayu and collect charcoal destined to GCC countries — with the full knowledge of the Mogadishu port authority,”

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/

Kenyan soldier guards some of the displaced who have been trekking for 2 days from somalia to Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.
The refugees crossed into the country even after the Government announcement it had closed the border to forestall incursions by Al Shabaab militants.

I hope somalia will be a free Nation one day.

Hey Pendo, is there a US military base close to kenya?

The US military base is in neighbouring Djibouti

Djibouti is one the most important US military bases throughout the world. Here, US forces monitoring assumed terrorist groups in the Middle East, Africa's Horn and East Africa are headquartered. It's Located only 50 kilometres south-west of the Arabian Peninsula

The British Army is the one with base in Kenya.They practically live here!

Just joking with you.
I know there's one over there.
Anyways thanks for your answer.

US FORCES JOIN KENYAN BATTLE


Al Shabaab militants were on the back foot on Saturday evening as they faced heavy bombardment from multiple fronts from a combined force of Kenyan troops, US drones, African Union peacekeepers and Transitional Federal Government fighters.

There was progress on the diplomatic front, too, when the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) member states endorsed the military offensive against the militants during a special conference held in Addis Abba Ethiopia on Friday.

The Igad Council of Ministers urged the United Nations Security Council to impose a blockade on Kismayu, a move which will effectively cut off billions of shillings collected by the militants to fund their insurgency.

The Kenya army alone is reported to have deployed at least 4,000 soldiers backed by Transitional Federal Somalia Government troops for a ground invasion of Kismayu.

Navy ships fitted with heavy weapons are reported to have arrived in the Somalia territorial waters and set up base around Bajuni Islands of Kudai, Ndoa, Chuvaye, Koyama, Fuma Iyu na Tini and Nchoni Islands


and the battle continues

pendo89:

US FORCES JOIN KENYAN BATTLE


Al Shabaab militants were on the back foot on Saturday evening as they faced heavy bombardment from multiple fronts from a combined force of Kenyan troops, US drones, African Union peacekeepers and Transitional Federal Government fighters.

There was progress on the diplomatic front, too, when the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) member states endorsed the military offensive against the militants during a special conference held in Addis Abba Ethiopia on Friday.

The Igad Council of Ministers urged the United Nations Security Council to impose a blockade on Kismayu, a move which will effectively cut off billions of shillings collected by the militants to fund their insurgency.

The Kenya army alone is reported to have deployed at least 4,000 soldiers backed by Transitional Federal Somalia Government troops for a ground invasion of Kismayu.

Navy ships fitted with heavy weapons are reported to have arrived in the Somalia territorial waters and set up base around Bajuni Islands of Kudai, Ndoa, Chuvaye, Koyama, Fuma Iyu na Tini and Nchoni Islands


and the battle continues

Where is the source of this info?

thanks for your daily diligence in this matter pendo.

Relax101:

Where is the source of this info?

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/US+planes+join+Kenyan+battle/-/1056/1260028/-/159de5/-/index.html

sorry I 4got to paste link.

BlackLibya:

thanks for your daily diligence in this matter pendo.

you are welcome. I learn a lot about the west activities here so I guess its fair that I bring updates from the East.We are all Africans after all.

Al-Shabaab: The inside story of a ragtag outfit

As Kenyan and Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government forces push forward to the strategic port of Kismayu, the true nature of Al-Shabaab and how it exacts loyalty and revenge is emerging.

The militant group has succeeded in holding sway over much of central and southern Somalia since 2007 using brutality and fear, painting its battle against the TFG as a war to free Somalia of a puppet regime (the TFG) backed by Ethiopia and the US.

Al-Shabaab has blocked aid agencies from delivering food directly to starving populations, and is thus single-handedly responsible for the displacement of thousands who now live in horrendous conditions in refugee camps inside Kenya.

Operation Linda Nchi against Al- Shabaab is taking a toll on innocent people, with thousands of fleeing the combat in Somalia and streaming into Dadaab, Kenya’s largest refugee camp, to begin a new life in squalid conditions.

According to Military Spokesperson Emmanuel Chirchir, the overall campaign strategy of Operation Linda Nchi remains to reduce the Al-Shabaab’s effectiveness and to restore TFG authority in order to achieve enduring peace in Somalia.

Many of those who have fled the war-ravaged country told The Standard they are happy with the assault by Kenya’s Defence Forces on the militants.

The name Al-Shabaab literally means "the youth" and although at its founding, the terror group was embraced by many Somalis resentful of Ethiopia’s invasion of their country and atrocities committed by its troops, it quickly morphed into a hybrid branch of Al-Qaeda and includes Somali and international militants from the US, Europe and Kenya.

It was the entry of the Ethiopians in December 2006 to support the UN-mandated TFG and dismantle a coalition of shari’a courts known as the Islamic Courts Union, which controlled most of the country that gave birth to Al-Shabaab.

Ethiopia was very effective in dismantling the ICU, but left behind bitter memories among the war scarred Somali population.

By 2009 when Ethiopia handed over defence of the TFG to the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), Al-Shabaab had been so effective that the fledgling Somali administration was struggling to extend its authority beyond a few dusty blocks in Mogadishu as well as strategic government installations, including the airport and seaport.

Jihad

Al-Shabaab thus ended up with a vast amount of geographical space ranging from its border with Ethiopia to the north as well as central and southern regions of Somalia.

This free space provided the perfect camouflage for planning attacks and sheltering operatives sent by Al-Qaeda to assist it set up terrorist training camps as part of the global jihad movement.

It began recruiting battle hardened jihadists from Afghanistan and intensified the use of suicide bombings against its perceived enemies.

These were people skilled in guerilla insurgency and the use of terror.

Militants came from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, as well as the US and Europe.

Last week, two Britons of Somali origin were arrested on Kenya’s border with Somalia.

According to the American Institute, at least 20 Americans and 100 Britons are fighting for Al-Shabaab.

It focused its recruitment on young Muslim men, regardless of heir ethnic origin or race, looking to participate in the global jihad led by Osama bin Laden, as well as Somalis seeking to defend their homeland.

Mr Abu Mansour al Amriki whose real names are Omar Hammami, is one of the top terrorists on the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI’s) most wanted list.

Hammami is a US-born Al-Shabaab militant once rumoured to have been killed by US Predator drone, although his death has never been independently confirmed.

Kenya was for long very strategic to Al-Shabaab, because it offered them a safe haven, allowing the leaders to make investments using the vast Somali Diaspora in Nairobi’s Eastleigh and elsewhere to finance its operations.

Al-Shabaab fighters freely crossed the vast and poorly policed border frequently to receive treatment in Kenya.

The Al-Shabaab have invested in property and smuggling of goods, including clothes, cars and oil, with the help of several Kenyan businessmen.

When Ethiopia got rid of the ICU, several of its leaders fled to neighbouring countries. One of them, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweis, the current leader of Hizb al Islam allied to Al- Shabaab, fled to Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, which is hostile to Ethiopia.

There he formed the Alliance for Liberation of Somalia (ARS) with funding from the Eritrean government.

Guerilla tactics

Aweis slipped back into Somalia and joined Al-Shabaab to successfully force out the Ethiopians using guerrilla tactics and terrorism, including roadside and suicide bombs.

He rose to be a prominent leader of the Al- Shabaab.

Another Al-Shabaab leader, Mukhtar Abu Zubair, also rumoured to have been killed — although this was also not confirmed — fought for Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan under his real name Ahmed Abdi Godane, prior to September 11 bombing of the US.

The departure of the Ethiopians under an UN-backed peace deal in January 2009 left the TFG government of President Sheikh Sharif, a moderate Islamist, severely weakened militarily, but it also meant Al-Shabaab could no longer pose as the defender of the Somali nation against foreign occupation.

Its legitimacy threatened, Al- Shabaab decided to retain the support of the people by providing services normally offered by the State, distributing money to the poor and those in need.

It also began taxing imports coming through the port of Kismayu, which it controlled, and set up roadblocks where it levied taxes on goods and vehicles of humanitarian NGOs distributing aid in its territory under what it called "Office for Supervising the Affairs of Foreign Agencies" and banned food from the US.

In this way, it effectively controlled how much aid went in and how it was distributed, leaving the population at its mercy and portrayed itself as defending the Somali people from attempts by the US to weaken the country through humanitarian aid.

To emphasise this it raided offices of two UN aid groups in Baidoa and Wajid in July 2009, banned their operations and commandeered their vehicles and computers.

It also punished suspected criminals brutally, however petty the crime, with many losing their limbs and others being stoned to death.

Kenya’s Defence Forces are seeking to cut off Al-Shabaab from its supply routes by sea, air and land, weakening its capacity to effectively train for attacks and reducing its weapons stockpile.

It now has the support of member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and France whose navy on Sunday bombarded the town of Kuday, which is south of Kismayu.

Estimates of Al-Shabaab’s total manpower range from 2,000-5,000, including up to 1,000 foreign fighters.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000045448&cid=4&

Shocking tales of life under al Shabaab

Somalis on Saturday told horrific tales of life under Al Shabaab, a terror movement that has been tossed out of key towns liberated by Kenya’s military following a week of intense military campaign.

As the first accounts out of western Somalia filtered through, Kenya’s military conducted air strikes on Munarani area north of Oddo, hitting one of al Shabaab’s command centres. Kenyan and TFG forces also advanced beyond Oddo town, which was captured on Friday.

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development also called on the international community to impose a blockade on the port of Kismayu to counter Al Shabaab and strangle their source of income.

Residents of Dobley town narrated to this writer how women were being forced to marry Al Shabaab fighters, and were threatened with beheading if they did not comply. Members of the group, who said they were fighting for their religion, seized buildings and stocks in shops.

Dobley, which sits in the middle of an expansive, sun-scorched scrubland near the border town of Liboi, was liberated with the help of Kenyan troops.

They had beheaded men and cut off the limbs of people who were suspected of stealing, residents said.

"They’d force us to pray," Mohammed Abdi, 26, said on Saturday.

"We had no freedom. We are Muslim and know when to pray, but the militants were saying we must obey their orders."

Now, after the town was recently grabbed from the militia through the help of Kenyan forces, Abdi is free to do things his way.

Orders

"I pray four times a day; not because anyone is forcing me but because of my faith."

Al Shabaab, or youth in Arabic, had also banned the eating of samosas a local delicacy. A resident said the militants told them that the three corners of somosas represent the cross — a Christian symbol.
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The chewing of khat, a succulent herb loved by many Somalis was also forbidden. These days, it is common to see men munching away under the watchful eyes of the soldiers and members of Ras Kamboni Brigade, a militant group supporting the Transitional Federal Government.
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A few metres from the local police station, Dobley hospital is in ruins. The roof caved in during intense fighting between the militia and Kenya’s military men.

The waiting room is in a shambles — the ceiling has caved in, gaping holes serve for windows, and bullet holes litter the walls.

When Al Shabaab learned the soldiers were moving in, they dug in inside the hospital compound. Others shot back from behind the walls of the hospital as staff and patients hastily evacuated.

Hospital in ruin

"I asked them to leave but they refused," said Dr Hiray Abdi, who heads the hospital.

"They put the lives of patients in danger."

The hospital was built by the community, which contributed whatever they could to provide a place where they could get medical care. Somalis in the Diaspora also contributed.

Now, the hospital is no more and years of hard labour have gone to naught.

"They force young girls to marry them. Some of the girls are also given away to foreign people who train the Al Shabaab," said a woman who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.

Scores of foreign jihadists, mostly Pakistanis, train the militia who have links with Al Qaeda, the Afghanistan-based terror group.

The terrorist movement provides the trainers, which was responsible for the two terror attacks in Kenya in 1998 and 2001.

She added: "They tell young girls that if you are not married, your prayers will not be answered. If you resist, they torture or even kill you."

She showed scars on her hand, which were inflicted by the militia in Ganane area. They wanted to make a pathway near her house, and had brought men to demolish it.

"When I resisted, they tied me up, whipped me, and beat me with gun butts," she added. "Even today, I’m still feeling the pain."

The town is slowly waking from years of tyranny and oppression by the terror movement.

Business is brisk. Merchants and women in their long garbs trot along the dusty streets, which are being patrolled by gun-totting government soldiers.

TFG’s Major Mudu Mohammed said when Kenyan soldiers helped them to capture Qoqaani last week they were shocked to find nearly all shops had closed down. They learned that the Al Shabaab has over the years been forcefully seizing items from shopkeepers.

Many closed down because they could not make profits.

"They are stealing from civilians and telling them they need the items to fight a holy war," said Major Mohammed.

He said in many towns, they were also surprised to find there were no young men. Many had fled to avoid being forcefully enlisted into the terror movement.

"I’m very happy for what the Kenyan soldiers have done," said another woman, who also asked not to be named.

Suffering

Another man, Abdi Haji, said he fled Mogadishu when the militias put a price on his head after he rented out his house to Ethiopian soldiers.

At one time, gunmen shot him twice on his hand and chest, and left him for dead.

"I was found by a man who took me to Medina Hospital," said Haji. Soon after, the militants wired his house with explosives and blew it up.

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AND PEOPLE ASK WHY SOMALIA IS EVER IN RUINS! TERROR. RESIDENTS CANNOT LIVE A NORMAL LIFE AND DO NORMAL BUSINESS.

I am hoping to see a new somalia soon.

Grenade attack injures 14, al Shabaab suspected

At least 14 revellers were injured when an unidentified man lobbed a grenade into a bar along Nairobi’s Mfangano Street.
The al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility of the incident and the motive of the attack is yet to be known.
Most of the injured had injuries on their legs, faces, head and hands and doctors at the Kenyatta National Hospital said they were in stable condition.

The scene of the incident is a pub that operates from a back street and it must have been targeted by a person who knows it well.
The incident occurred when a man who posed as a patron knocked the door and when it was opened for him, he just hurled a grenade at the patrons inside and fled,” said a witness and bouncer who identified himself as Evans.



BREAKING NEWS: One person dies in Nairobi explosion

An explosion has hit Nairobi OTC bus stop killing one and injuring several others.
Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere said more than 10 people were injured in the blast and were rushed to hospital.
The explosion occurred at around 7pm at the busy bus terminus when most commuters were on their way home.

Police say that a hand grenade was lobbed at a crowd of commuters waiting for transport.
The explosion happened less than 12 hours after a grenade attack hit a city bar on Monday morning injuring 14 people.
The incidences come days after Somali's al Shabaab militant group threatened to attack Kenya over the recent incursion to the wartorn country.

Security has also been heightened in most hospitals. The police said the operation to clear all illegal structures near vital installations and institutions that may be used as hideouts for criminals will continue.

The first operation was conducted around the Moi Airbase, Eastleigh where stalls and residential structures were flattened.

Somalis will suffer if Kenya decides to flush them out of the the country! We know their bases,their estates. They came in droves during the moi era when security was lapsed. They bought churches and turned them into business premises,They bought schools and turned them into madrassa.
I think Kenya should just go bomb Eastleigh estate in Kenya which is an extension of somalia and where all pirate money is invested.
The place where all illegal guns and grenades are smuggled. That place is like wall street judging by the amount of money which changes hands daily! They will not dare threw a single grenade again.
If the operation to flush them out of Kenya starts where will they go cz Kenya is their only refugee.They are choking the camps cz elshababs cant let them live peacefuly in their own country!
What is wrong with terrorists!!!

Are you Kenyan or Somali @ pendo

kenyan

I knew this would happen soon. Flushing out the illegal immigrants.And men Somalis are very fertile going by their numbers.

Police to carry out swoop on Al-Shabaab suspects

A major crackdown on illegal Somali immigrants is underway.

Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere and Internal Security PS Francis Kimemia said the operation will target non-Kenyans who have taken refuge in the country to fundraise for the gang.

Iteere said an operation on Al-Shabaab sympathisers at Dadaab refugee camp at the weekend led to the recovery of four AK-47 rifles.

"We will be launching the exercise soon because we understand a number of them are around," said the police boss.

Kimemia said the exercise will not be targeting Somalis of Kenyan origin but illegal immigrants who support the activities of the criminal gang.

In Nairobi’s Eastleigh area, a suburb which has been nicknamed “little Mogadishu” because of the large number of Somali residents from Kenya and Somalia, tension was high.

Somali President opposes Kenyan incursion

What? Mr.Chamelion! The somali president's official residence is in Kenya.He flies daily to mogadishu because he cant spend a night there.
The last president was shot when he went there and stayed too long.
Last week he was in support of the whole operation.Now hes talking another language,please Mr. president,carry your stuff and go live in your country if you think you do not need kenyan support. I wonder what you are doing in the country together with your ministers. Why not live in Somalia? These guys bite the arm that feeds them.


Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has said his transitional government is opposed to Kenya's military incursion into Somalia.
Nairobi said the deployment was done with the Somali authorities' approval.
For more than two years, President Ahmed's weak UN-backed interim government has been battling al-Shabab, an al Qaeda-linked group which controls much of south and central Somalia.
His government relies on a 9,000-strong Africa Union force for its security in the capital, Mogadishu.

Air raids

Speaking to journalists at the scene of recent fighting in Mogadishu, Mr Ahmed said Kenyan support in terms of training and logistics was welcome but his government and the people of Somalia were opposed to the presence of the Kenyan army.
Last week, a Somali general told the BBC his troops were working with Kenyan forces advancing from the border towards the port city of Kismayo.
Last week, al-Shabab lost control of the coastal town of Ras Kamboni after attacks by the Kenyan navy and a local militia.
The French authorities said they had learnt last week that a Frenchwoman kidnapped from Kenya by Somali gunmen earlier in the month had died.
Other foreigners being held in Somalia include a British woman abducted from a coastal resort and a Kenyan driver and two Spanish aid workers seized from the Dadaab refugee camp near the Kenya-Somalia border.


Refugees abandoned to their fate as NGOs shut down operations

Two weeks ago, the health post managed by Medicines Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) was bustling with activity as medical personnel attended to patients at Dadaab’s Ifo Three camp.
But the health post has since been closed, leaving thousands of refugees without medical care.
It was shut down soon after Al-Shabaab militants abducted two Spanish aid workers.
Today, the halls are deserted after the medical NGO personnel fled. The organisation has virtually abandoned its humanitarian activities after the kidnapping sent chills through the spines of many aid workers.

Two guards keep watch at the health post, where a fluttering flag is the only reminder that the empty halls were once bustling with life-saving operations.
Scores of foreigners who work in the Dadaab camp, which holds nearly 500,000 refugees, have fled. Refugees have been left destitute
The militants are unpredictable, and aid workers are scared because they can hardly differentiate genuine refugees from Al-Shabaab members.

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Analysts sceptical of US claims, say it is providing intelligence support

The face of elshabab


Independent analysts in the United States tend to accept the Obama administration’s claim that it did not push Kenya into launching military action in southern Somalia.

But some of those same analysts say it is likely that the US is now providing Kenyan forces with intelligence assistance in hopes of inflicting a fatal blow on their mutual enemy: the Al Shabaab insurgency.

American officials speaking on condition of remaining anonymous told reporters late last week that the US was not notified in advance of Kenya’s move into Somalia.

The State Department and Pentagon have not publicly criticised the operation, however, and are refusing to comment on whether the US is now giving Kenya reconnaissance information on Al Shabaab’s tactical response.

However, according to one of the documents released by the whistleblower website, Wikileaks, dated 2009, US has been helping Kenya secure its borders.

“We are providing assistance to Kenya’s army to help them better react to major security incidents along the porous Kenya-Somali border and we are initiating a program to help the Administration Police and Wildlife Service to provide the first line of security along the border according to their mandate,” former US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger was quoted as saying.

The document further stated that US was also providing support to the Navy and the Maritime Police Unit to better police Kenya’s territorial waters.

Kenya military spokesperson Emmanuel Chirchir, denied reports that America was offering Kenya logistical support, saying the country had the capacity to fight the militants.

“Reports that America is giving us logistical support are erroneous. We only exchange intelligence information with America, and we have been doing it for long,” said Major Chirchir.

The United Nations has also been silent on Kenya’s move into Somalia. A UN spokesman says Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has “nothing to say” on this subject.

An expert on the Horn who works in one branch of the US government told the EastAfrican that the US is almost certainly supplying the Kenyan military with intelligence gathered from American drones flying in southern Somalia.

But this analyst and others suggest that the US may simultaneously fear that Kenya’s action will backfire and leave the country even more vulnerable to Al Shabaab attacks. Al Shabaab may be weakened, they say, but it is not defeated and it does retain the ability to launch punishing operations against Kenyan civilians as well as soldiers.

Other Somalia watchers with military experience point out, however, that Kenya’s operation must have been in the planning stages for at least a few months. And that makes it difficult for these analysts to accept the Americans’ claims that they were blindsided by such a radical departure from Kenya’s generally cautious policies in the Horn.

The US government expert who did not want to be identified emphasises that “Kenya is perfectly capable of acting on its own.”

The US government official offers a similar view. It’s likely, he says, that Kenya will end its operation inside Somalia within the next couple of weeks, especially if it is able to push Al Shabaab away from the border and to bolster local Somali militias friendly to Kenya.
All the analysts agree that Kenya’s military response is understandable and justifiable.

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Somali President criticised for anti-Kenya comments

Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed came under fire on Tuesday for casting doubt on his government's support for a Kenyan incursion into the south of the Horn of Africa nation to take on Islamist rebels.

Ahmed said on Monday the Somali government was not happy with the deployment of Kenyan soldiers across the border because the incursion went beyond an initial agreement for logistical support for Somali soldiers.

In the Somali town of Dhobley near the border with Kenya, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday waving Kenyan and Somali flags and burning pictures of the president.

"We want Kenya and Somalia to fight al Shabaab in every corner. We do not have any other hope for life," Gedi Farah, an elder from the Dhobley area, told Reuters by phone.



"Kenya, do not believe the words of our weak, mad president. Please fight al Shabaab and go deep into Somalia. We want to return to our homes," he said.

Somali military officials and a spokesman for the pro-government Ras Kamboni militia urged the demonstrators to calm down, saying the president's remarks were not in line with the Somali government's position.

"The Somali government does not support al Shabaab. It is only the president and that will be solved," said Colonel Yasin Warfa, a government military official.

Since being elected as president in 2009 under a UN-hosted peace process, Ahmed has failed to stamp any authority on a country that has lacked effective central government control for two decades.

A moderate Sufi militia in Somalia, Ahlu Sunna, that has supported the government's fight against al Shabaab, also weighed in against President Ahmed's comments.The group's stated goal is to impose its own harsh version of sharia law throughout the country. Al Shabaab metes out punishments such as stonings and amputations and bans music, movies and soccer in areas it controls.

"Sherif, if you cannot, or do not want to oust al Shabaab, let Kenya do it for the sake of the suffering Somalis," spokesman Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf told Reuters.

Mr.President sober up please.