Al Shabaab Name New Leader Aftermath of U.S Strike That killed Former Leader, Promises Revenge

MOGADISHU, Sept 6 (Reuters) -
The Somali Islamist militant group
Al Shabaab confirmed on Saturday that its leader Ahmed Godane had been killed in a U.S. air strike this week and named a new leader, promising "great distress" to its enemies.

U.S. forces struck Godane's encampment in south-central Somalia with Hellfire missiles and laser-guided munitions on Monday, but the Pentagon did not confirm his death until Friday.
Western governments and neighbouring countries want to neutralise a group that they say has exploited Somalia's chaos to attract jihadists and train them to fight.

In a statement, Al Shabaab reaffirmed its affiliation to al Qaeda, and named its new leader as Sheikh Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah, warning its enemies to "expect only that which will cause you great distress".
Little is known of al Shabaab's new
leader, but a local elder who asked not be named said he had joined al Shabaab in 2006 and, like Godane, hailed from the Dir clan.
Godane himself was named head of al Shabaab in 2008, less than a week after his predecessor Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in a similar U.S. raid.

Godane dramatically raised the group's profile, carrying out bombings and suicide attacks in Somalia and elsewhere in the region, including last September's attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in which 67 people died.

Godane publicly claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was revenge for Kenyan and Western involvement in Somalia and noting its proximity to the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The militants have also staged guerrilla attacks in parts of the capital, as well as in neighbouring Kenya and Uganda.

The Pentagon said on Friday that
Godane's killing was a "major symbolic and operational loss" for al Shabaab, but some analysts have said it could bring more violence.

Al Shabaab, whose name means "The Youth", said two of Godane's companions had been killed in the
attack, adding: "Avenging the death
of our scholars and leaders is a binding obligation on our shoulders that we will never relinquish or forget, no matter how long it takes."

The group, which aims to impose its own strict version of Islam, controlled Mogadishu and the southern region of Somalia from 2006 until 2011. It was forced out of the capital by peacekeeping forces deployed by the African Union, who have launched a new offensive against the Islamists this year.

Kenya deployed troops with the AU
force to try to prevent al Shabaab
encroaching onto its own territory,
and suffered retribution in the shape of the attack on the Westgate mall.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta
thanked the United States for killing Godane, and "for bringing an end to Godane's career of death and destruction; and finally allowing us to begin our healing process".

- Reuters

How Europe Inadvertently Bankrolls Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab

Al-Qaeda is increasingly funding terror
operations thanks to at least $125 million in ransom paid since 2008, largely by European governments to free western hostages, The New York Times reported.

The payments totaled $66 million in 2013 alone, according to an investigation by the newspaper
published Tuesday.
While Al-Qaeda's network was first funded by wealthy donors, "kidnapping for ransom has become today’s most significant source of terrorist financing," said David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a 2012 speech.

"Each transaction encourages another transaction." The organization has openly acknowledged the windfall, the paper reported.
"Kidnapping hostages is an easy spoil," wrote Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, "which I may describe as a profitable trade and a precious treasure."
Al-Wuhayshi said ransom money — reaching around $10 million per hostage in recent cases— accounts for up to half his operating budget.
The paper listed more than $90 million paid to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb since 2008 — by a Switzerland, Spain, Austria, and state-controlled French company and two payments from undetermined sources.

Somalia's Al-Shabab insurgents received $5.1 million from Spain, while Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula received nearly $30 million in two payments, one from Qatar and Oman, the other of undetermined origin.

Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and
Switzerland each denied ever paying ransoms for hostages. French nuclear company Areva also denied paying ransom.

However, last year a former senior French intelligence official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity: "Governments and companies pay in almost every case."
"There is always a ransom or an exchange of some sort: money, the release of prisoners, arms deliveries."

The Times article cited former hostages, negotiators, diplomats and government officials in 10 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and it said the payments were sometimes hidden as development aid.

The U.S. and Britain have notably refused to pay to free kidnapped nationals, the paper reported, with the result that just a few have been
rescued in military raids or escaped.

However, the U.S. has been willing to negotiate in some cases, including the recent trade of five senior Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo in
exchange for captured U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

"The Europeans have a lot to answer for," Vicki Huddleston, the former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, who was the ambassador to Mali in 2003 when Germany paid the first ransom, told The Times.
"They pay ransoms and then deny any was paid," arguing the policy "makes all of our citizens vulnerable."

G8 leaders last year signed a deal to
"unequivocally reject the payment of ransoms to terrorists" but did not impose a formal ban.

Business Insider

Kenya: Governor Charged With Terrorism over Lamu Attack

A Kenyan regional governor has been charged with terrorism and murder over attacks in the coastal Lamu district in which scores of people were killed.

Issa Timamy was charged over the attacks on the Mpeketoni town area. He faces several charges including murder.

Kenya's president has blamed the attacks on political networks, despite Somali Islamist group al-Shabab claiming responsibility.

Opposition parties have dismissed the president's claims.

Most of the dead were ethnic Kikuyus, like the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. Non-Muslims were singled out to be killed.

Mr Timamy belongs to a political affiliate of Mr Kenyatta's governing Jubilee coalition.

He will remain in police custody until 30 June, while investigations continue.

Locals blockaded roads in protest against insecurity after the attacks
The attacks earlier in June killed at least 60 people, as gunmen descended on hotels and a police station.

It was the most deadly attack in Kenya since last September, when at least 67 people were killed by al-Shabab fighters at Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre.

BBC

Boko Haram Gets Funding From Outside Nigeria —Ethiopian Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, on Wednesday, observed that funding for terror organisations operating in Africa, such as Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al-Shabab in East Africa, come from outside the continent.

Speaking at a joint press conference with President Goodluck Jonathan in State House, Abuja, to round off his two-day visit to the country, he also said the resort to suicide bombing by terrorists was an indication that the war on terror was succeeding.

The Ethiopian leader noted that the East African region had been fighting terrorism for the past 10 years, while stressing the need for cooperation by leaders of worst hit countries in the effort to drive the process of the war on terror on the African continent.

'You know terrorism is not African agenda only. There has been terror attack in Boston, United States and many parts of the globe. So, it is not something that is new to Nigeria, Ethiopia and other African countries. It is a global phenomenon and you see that there was terror attack in Iraq recently and is expanding.

'We have to see it as a global phenomenon that has to be tackled together in unison. It should not be left to this or that region or this or that country. We have to bear in mind the genesis of this terrorism,' he said.

Desalegn said Nigeria and Ethiopia had reached an agreement on the fight against terror with the countries' chiefs of staff working on the modalities adding that 'we are working as one with Kenya to fight this terrorism and the chiefs of staff are in Nairobi, discussing how to fight this issue as we speak.'

In his remarks, President Jonathan observed that Ethiopia had a longer history of terrorism than Nigeria, adding that the country had a lot to learn from the East African country's experience.

The two leaders commended the exchange of high level visits between their countries and resolved to maintain this in order to promote and deepen mutual understanding and cooperation.

Courtesy:
The Nigerian Voice

Suspected 'Islamists' Attack Kenyan Coast Town

Suspected Islamist militants have attacked hotels and a police station in the Kenyan coastal town of Mpeketoni, military officials say.

Witnesses reported seeing buildings on fire and hearing gunfire in the town, which is near Lamu island.

It is not yet clear if there are any casualties.

Kenya has suffered a number of militant attacks since 2011 when its forces entered neighbouring Somalia to combat al-Shabab fighters.

Kenya's Standard newspaper said on its website the attackers had stolen weapons and vehicles from the police station, which was on fire.

It said local residents had fled to nearby forests.

The paper also quoted a witness as saying he had counted six bodies in the street, but this could not be confirmed.

Van hijacked

Kenyan army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said gunmen entered Mpeketoni, a busy trading centre, and started "shooting people".

The "assailants [are] likely to be al-Shabab," Major Chirchir said.

He said surveillance aircraft were looking for the attackers.

Local police chief Hamaton Mwaliko told Reuters that the gunmen had hijacked a van in nearby Witu town to carry out the attack.

"They raided Mpeketoni police station first," he said.

"Some hotels in the town are on fire. We don't know how many casualties are there for now. We understand the attackers have already fled but our officers are pursuing them."

Nearby Lamu island is a popular tourist destination with ancient architecture that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

BBC

Report Claims Boko Haram Has Benefited from $70m Overseas Funding

By Senator Iroegbu  with Agency Report  

The deadly militant sect, Boko Haram, has received over $70 million from overseas between 2006 and 2011 to organise its campaign of violence, a media report has said.

The report, which quoted retired Major Chris Moghalu of the US military, also claimed that the sponsors of the insurgency in Nigeria were closely linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
It noted that in the collaboration with AQAP and AQIM, members of the militant sect had been receiving regular support in cash and kind to maintain the momentum of their sporadic attacks across Nigeria from the two foreign terror groups.

Quoting Major Moghalu, it said trans-national criminal activities including kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and armed robbery were being used by Boko Haram militants to raise funds to plan and execute attacks in the North-east, an area which has been under constant campaign of violence of the deadly sect.

Though the activities of the violent sect had substantially been restricted to the Northeast,  two recent bomb blasts in Nyanya in the outskirts of Abuja,  have shown how daring the group had become.

The first bomb blast at the Nyanya motor park claimed 75 lives, while the second bomb attack around the vicinity last week claimed 20 lives.

Source:
ThisDay Newspaper

Multiple Explosions Rock Kenyan Capital, 5 Feared Dead

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Officials in Kenya say that an explosion in downtown Nairobi has killed at least five people.

The National Disaster Operation Center said on Twitter that explosions had occurred Monday evening in a neighborhood known for its large Somali population. Sometimes called Kenya's "Little Mogadishu," Eastleigh has seen several grenade attacks over the last year.

The agency said five people were killed and several injured. Officials did not immediately say what caused the blasts.

Kenya has suffered from a long string of grenade attacks presumed to be thrown by Somali militant sympathizes. Officials also recently discovered a large, undetonated car bomb in the coastal city of Mombasa.

Associated Press