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| Somali militant group claims bombing of Ethiopians "This is a message to the Puntland authority which had extended a welcome and showed affection to the long-time enemy Ethiopians," the Web site, informing Muslim society to keep away from the infidels of Ethiopia whether they are in military dress or not.. More |
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| Previous Stories Profitters of terrorism other than those labeled "terrorists" By Kiflu Hussain Shabab Bombings May Be A Sign of Weakness By Kevin Peraino (Newsweek) Uganda releases photos of Kampala bombers CNN Ethiopians, Eritreans Face Double Suspicion in Post-Bomb Uganda By Peter Heinlein Obama: Uganda Bombings Indicate Vision of 'Destruction and Death' VOA 'Suicide belt' found after Uganda blasts (BBC) At least 60 killed in Uganda twin bombings Faith Karimi (CNN) |
| Related Stories U.S. drone base in Ethiopia is operational By Craig Whitlock (Washington Post) U.S. building secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say CBS News Architect of blasts at US embassies killed in Somalia (Boston Globe) Osama Bin Laden Dead: Does It Matter? Huffington Post Osama bin Laden: A timeline of terror News.com Alert on border as Somali terror cell clashes with Ethiopia troops By FRED MUKINDA Somali militants display bodies of 5 dead peacekeepers, hold Burundian soldier captive By Abdi Guled (CP) Somali soccer player mourned after suicide... Washington Post |
Who's Backing Al Shabaab? - Al Qaeda, Eritrea?
2 November, 2011 | Maddy Fry
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
The Kenyan government's decision to invade Somalia was preceded
by an ambiguous encounter that received comparatively little
coverage. In mid-October, a supposed member of Al-Qaeda,
curiously claiming to be from the USA, was seen to be handing out
food, clothing and copies of the Koran to famine refugees in the Ala-
Yasir camp south-west of Mogadishu.
Such an obvious 'diplomatic' gesture was certainly a rare one. Given
that Al-Qaeda also operates on a somewhat fractured basis, one
might also speculate as to whether the figure (who claimed to be in
Somalia on behalf of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri) might
have merely been inspired, rather than directed, by the organisations
leadership. Links between individual fighters can't strictly be said to
always point to a major sense of organisational unity between the
two at the highest levels.
East Africa.
Al-Shabaab's priorities may be inward-looking, concerned with
wrenching full control away from the UN-backed government in
Mogadishu, but those of their financiers frequently are not. The
remnants of the beleaguered regime in the Somali capital trying to
resist al-Shabaab claims the country contains many from abroad
providing the latter with military aid, including the training in previous
years of Somali fighters in Afghanistan.
On one level, Al-Qaeda has an obvious motive for forging links with
ideological allies in the Horn. However, there has been little
evidence that the Somalis' aims go far beyond the country's borders,
compared to the former's more global vision. The appearance of an
Al Qaeda fighter may play into the al-Shabaab strategy of denying
access to Western aid groups and instead promoting their cause via
militant propaganda. But as an organisation formed with violent
intentions stretching across East and West, Al Qaeda's ideological
priorities are unlikely to be rooted so deeply in the Horn, particularly
with the inter-ethnic wrangling and clan rivalries that plague
Somalia's militants. So the links for the most part seem sporadic; but
they point to an increasing trend for extremist networks in the Horn
to draw on the support of those with larger vested interests outside it.
The Kenyan government's high-profile invasion of Somalia on in mid-
October was prefaced by accusations that a government minister
had been funding Somali terrorists. Tourism minister Najib Balala
was accused in a UN report released in August of lending money to
al-Shabaab in 2009 supposedly for the purpose of mosque-building,
along with accusations that in February this year he sent money to an
account held by an individual known to be a financial backer of the
group. He refused to accept the conclusions, pleading ignorance
over the money's use.
Other speculative reports to have emerged include claims that high-
profile lawyer Amina Abdalla was also involved in channelling funds
to Somalia, coupled with suspicions that young people recruited for
the al-Shabaab cause have predominantly been drawn from non-
Somali communities. Much of this remains contested, but it does
mean the Kenyan government's invasion of Somalia suggests a deep
insecurity about how widespread and entrenched the country's links
with militants might be.
More attention has been focused on recent months on the suspected
alliance between the Eritrean government and Somalia's more
militant contingent. Much of it is rooted in Eritrea's drawn-out and
bloody relationship with Ethiopia, whom it accuses of violently
imposing its imperialist agenda on minorities within and outside its
borders. As part of an ongoing proxy war against Zenawi's regime,
Eritrea has been mobilising the resources of other groups in East
Africa, including those in Somalia and among minority groups within
Ethiopia.
The recent allegation (vehemently denied by President Isaias) that al-
Shabaab receieves funding from Asmara prompted calls for
sanctions to be imposed on Eritrea. Although weakening Ethiopia
seems to remain the aim, if true then it would seem this much smaller
state is drawing on militants in the region to create a larger support
network against Addis Ababa. The accusations remain speculative,
but significant.
Yet the Somalis are not the only ones thought to have been enlisted.
The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) were thought to be heavily
involved in a plot to bomb the African Union summit held in Addis
Ababa earlier this year. The group are largely concerned with
weakening the Ethiopian state and, in the process, furthering the
interests of the minority Oromo-speaking peoples that currently
reside within its borders. For the OLF to team up with Eritrea thus
makes sense, as the two employ a common discourse in relation to
Addis Ababa
In 2010 Ethiopia also accused Eritrea of harbouring members of the
Ethiopian People's Patriotic Front, another subversive splinter group
that the Ethiopian government labelled as 'terrorist,' including the
group's founder Col. Tadesse Muluneh. Accusations of this nature
are often vehemently denied by the government in Asmara. Yet if
true they support suspicions that Isaias Afewerki's government
continues to reach out to other militant factions on its doorstep.
All this shouldn't detract from the fact that for many extremist groups
in the Horn their concerns are comparatively narrow. But given the
flagging popularity globally of both Al Qaeda and Eritrea to say the
least, bolstering support in the region is an understandable move for
any pariah - big or small.
Maddy Fry is a freelance journalist specialising on the Horn of
Africa.
Courtesy
2 November, 2011 | Maddy Fry
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
The Kenyan government's decision to invade Somalia was preceded
by an ambiguous encounter that received comparatively little
coverage. In mid-October, a supposed member of Al-Qaeda,
curiously claiming to be from the USA, was seen to be handing out
food, clothing and copies of the Koran to famine refugees in the Ala-
Yasir camp south-west of Mogadishu.
Such an obvious 'diplomatic' gesture was certainly a rare one. Given
that Al-Qaeda also operates on a somewhat fractured basis, one
might also speculate as to whether the figure (who claimed to be in
Somalia on behalf of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri) might
have merely been inspired, rather than directed, by the organisations
leadership. Links between individual fighters can't strictly be said to
always point to a major sense of organisational unity between the
two at the highest levels.
- Yet in many ways this was
rather predictable - not just
because since 2007 al-
Shabaab have done little to
hide their ideological
sympathies with their
brethren across the water,
but also because it points to
the increasing usage of
East Africa.
Al-Shabaab's priorities may be inward-looking, concerned with
wrenching full control away from the UN-backed government in
Mogadishu, but those of their financiers frequently are not. The
remnants of the beleaguered regime in the Somali capital trying to
resist al-Shabaab claims the country contains many from abroad
providing the latter with military aid, including the training in previous
years of Somali fighters in Afghanistan.
On one level, Al-Qaeda has an obvious motive for forging links with
ideological allies in the Horn. However, there has been little
evidence that the Somalis' aims go far beyond the country's borders,
compared to the former's more global vision. The appearance of an
Al Qaeda fighter may play into the al-Shabaab strategy of denying
access to Western aid groups and instead promoting their cause via
militant propaganda. But as an organisation formed with violent
intentions stretching across East and West, Al Qaeda's ideological
priorities are unlikely to be rooted so deeply in the Horn, particularly
with the inter-ethnic wrangling and clan rivalries that plague
Somalia's militants. So the links for the most part seem sporadic; but
they point to an increasing trend for extremist networks in the Horn
to draw on the support of those with larger vested interests outside it.
The Kenyan government's high-profile invasion of Somalia on in mid-
October was prefaced by accusations that a government minister
had been funding Somali terrorists. Tourism minister Najib Balala
was accused in a UN report released in August of lending money to
al-Shabaab in 2009 supposedly for the purpose of mosque-building,
along with accusations that in February this year he sent money to an
account held by an individual known to be a financial backer of the
group. He refused to accept the conclusions, pleading ignorance
over the money's use.
Other speculative reports to have emerged include claims that high-
profile lawyer Amina Abdalla was also involved in channelling funds
to Somalia, coupled with suspicions that young people recruited for
the al-Shabaab cause have predominantly been drawn from non-
Somali communities. Much of this remains contested, but it does
mean the Kenyan government's invasion of Somalia suggests a deep
insecurity about how widespread and entrenched the country's links
with militants might be.
More attention has been focused on recent months on the suspected
alliance between the Eritrean government and Somalia's more
militant contingent. Much of it is rooted in Eritrea's drawn-out and
bloody relationship with Ethiopia, whom it accuses of violently
imposing its imperialist agenda on minorities within and outside its
borders. As part of an ongoing proxy war against Zenawi's regime,
Eritrea has been mobilising the resources of other groups in East
Africa, including those in Somalia and among minority groups within
Ethiopia.
The recent allegation (vehemently denied by President Isaias) that al-
Shabaab receieves funding from Asmara prompted calls for
sanctions to be imposed on Eritrea. Although weakening Ethiopia
seems to remain the aim, if true then it would seem this much smaller
state is drawing on militants in the region to create a larger support
network against Addis Ababa. The accusations remain speculative,
but significant.
Yet the Somalis are not the only ones thought to have been enlisted.
The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) were thought to be heavily
involved in a plot to bomb the African Union summit held in Addis
Ababa earlier this year. The group are largely concerned with
weakening the Ethiopian state and, in the process, furthering the
interests of the minority Oromo-speaking peoples that currently
reside within its borders. For the OLF to team up with Eritrea thus
makes sense, as the two employ a common discourse in relation to
Addis Ababa
In 2010 Ethiopia also accused Eritrea of harbouring members of the
Ethiopian People's Patriotic Front, another subversive splinter group
that the Ethiopian government labelled as 'terrorist,' including the
group's founder Col. Tadesse Muluneh. Accusations of this nature
are often vehemently denied by the government in Asmara. Yet if
true they support suspicions that Isaias Afewerki's government
continues to reach out to other militant factions on its doorstep.
All this shouldn't detract from the fact that for many extremist groups
in the Horn their concerns are comparatively narrow. But given the
flagging popularity globally of both Al Qaeda and Eritrea to say the
least, bolstering support in the region is an understandable move for
any pariah - big or small.
Maddy Fry is a freelance journalist specialising on the Horn of
Africa.
Courtesy
