Friday, June 1, 2012

Al Qaida’s al Shabab may be on last legs in Somalia after key military defeats

With the recent loss of two key transit points, al Qaida’s Somali affiliate, for the first time in years, is facing what military analysts say is the likely end of the group’s once-powerful rule over much of Somalia
The future of al Shabab, as the al Qaida affiliate is known, is still difficult to predict, but military analysts say its hold on Kismayo, the port city through which its supplies move and from which it derives much of its financing, is threatened and that the fall of the other transit points has cut off key al Shabab supply routes to its western and northern fronts.“The clock is ticking," said a well-informed regional security consultant who’s long tracked the battle against al Shabab and who asked that he not be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic. "They cut off Shabab from their supply routes. It’s a big deal for the organization as a whole."
The most recent blow came Thursday, when Kenyan and allied Somali forces captured the strategic crossroads of Afmadow, about 60 miles north of Kismayo. That followed the al Shabab defeat last week at Afgooye, which fell to African Union troops from Ugandan and Burundian pushing west from Somalia’s battered capital, Mogadishu.Al Shabab once controlled nearly all of southern and central Somalia, but that territory has dwindled steadily in the past year. African Union forces pushed al Shabab out of Mogadishu last August, then Kenya launched a surprise invasion from the west in October. Ethiopian troops soon followed, pushing south across their own border with Somalia.Kenya has long indicated that its end objective is to push al Shabab out of Kismayo, the southern port city that’s al Shabab’s most lucrative and important possession. Military strategists say there’s no way to take the city without first capturing Afmadow, a town of 50,000."It’s a commercial hub for almost the entire region," said Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdisamed, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi and a Somali analyst. With it now under Kenyan control, al Shabab’s hold is crumbling, he said."Basically, the entire al Shabab-controlled area is under siege," Abdisamed said. "If you combine all those forces, the days of al Shabab are numbered."When the end might arrive, however, is unclear. Multiple sources said al Shabab had abandoned Afmadow without a fight and had set up a new defensive position halfway on the road between Afmadow and Kismayo at a place called Birta Dheer.Kenya has been bombarding Kismayo from the sea, but a spokesman for a Somali militia that’s allied with Kenyan forces said any ground assault would wait till Afmadow was secure and it had become clearer how al Shabab planned to defend the city."We don’t have any plans of moving to Kismayo that fast," said Abdinasir Serar, a spokesman for the Ras Kamboni movement, one of the Somali militias that are fighting alongside Kenyan troops. "For now we will settle in Afmadow."What happens if al Shabab loses Kismayo is also unclear. Analysts foresee a dizzying array of competing interests that include Somalia’s many clans and sub-clans, the politics of the neighboring countries whose troops are now inside Somalia and the often self-serving interests of the country’s political elite, now ensconced in Mogadishu.Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Burundi all have their own national interests in Somalia, and their own Somali allies. While Uganda and Burundi have been protecting the internationally recognized but flimsy transitional government in Mogadishu, Kenya has been training Somali troops and building ties with Ras Kamboni, while Ethiopia has backed a local Sufi militia that’s at odds with al Shabab’s ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam.With steady military advances, each foreign power is carving out its own regions of influence, and there seems to be no coherent plan for how to unify all these regions under a central government in Mogadishu should the threat from al Shabab fade.As for al Shabab itself, the group has proved quick to evolve in the past, and it could return once again to a more traditional guerrilla insurgency of shadowy rural movements and hit-and-run attacks.Al Shabab’s rise to power occurred during Ethiopia’s previous invasion of the country. If Somalis once again find themselves under the thumb of their foreign neighbors, al Shabab may be able to reinvent itself again.

Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/05/31/1960589/al-qaidas-al-shabab-may-be-on.html#storylink=cpy

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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