"Somalia insurgency moves north as pressure grows" Associated Press, March 06, 2012
MOGADISHU, Somalia - The fight against Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked insurgency may be moving north to an area previously considered safer than the war-ravaged south, analysts and officials said Monday.
Meaning the conflict is expanding (frown).
The move could mean that the Al Shabab militia is seeking to regroup in the semiautonomous region of Puntland, where international companies are exploring for oil. The militia has faced heavy pressure from three foreign armies in southern Somalia.
Yeah, isn't it AMAZING how the "Al-CIA-Duh" terrorists always show up near the oil or important areas of transit?
Last week, a Puntland militia led by former soldier Mohamed Said - nicknamed “Atom’’ for his bomb-making abilities - announced a merger with Al Shabab. An Al Shabab spokesman then used Twitter to warn international oil companies operating in Puntland to cease operations, saying “Somali oil carries death.’’
Did you know Al Shabab means CIA in Somali?
Al Shabab decided to use part of its militia to infiltrate and carry out attacks in the capital of Mogadishu, currently under the control of African Union and Somali government troops. It also sent other fighters north to Puntland and sent some of its foreign volunteers to Yemen, a Nairobi-based analyst said.
Al Shabab has recently lost several high-profile foreign fighters in attacks by US drones, including Lebanese citizen Bilal al-Berjawi, a confidant of Al Qaeda’s top leader in East Africa.
Oh, yeah, ANOTHER PLACE we are DUMPING MISSILES on in the name of UNHOLY LIES!
--more--"
"23 die in clash with Ethiopian troops
MOGADISHU - At least 23 people were killed when Somali insurgents attacked Ethiopian troops Saturday near the two countries’ joint border, witnesses said. Residents in Yurkud village said that the fight lasted hours. Ethiopian troops moved into border regions of Somalia this year to fight the insurgents (AP)."
Did the Ethiopians ever really leave after 2006?
Btw, Ethiopia has committed war crimes; however, because they are still a useful ally -- and predominately Christian in a largely Muslim area of Africa -- there are no calls forthcoming from the Hague.
Time for some food:
"Somali famine aid didn’t reach intended recipients" by Katharine Houreld | Associated Press, March 18, 2012
MOGADISHU, Somalia - A large amount of food sent by the UN to the Somali capital during last year’s famine never reached the starving people it was intended for, an Associated Press investigation has found.
It never does.
Some of the World Food Program supplies went to the black market, some to feed livestock. One warehouse full of rations was looted in its entirety by a Somali government official. And across the city, feeding sites handed out far less food than records indicate they should have....
So even the aid programs lied?
SIGH!!!!!!
Then there is always the "terrorists," of course.
--more--"
And when you try to go to market:
"Explosion in Somalia market kills 12" Associated Press, April 10, 2012
MOGADISHU, Somalia - A blast rocked a vegetable market in Somalia’s third-largest city, killing at least 12 people and wounding 30, officials said Monday.
Al Shabab, the country’s top militant group, claimed responsibility....
Fadumo Haji witnessed the carnage. “They killed innocent and poor people,’’ she said.
Baidoa was a major base for Al Shabab until Ethiopian troops and Somali soldiers seized the key town in February.
“The explosion has targeted Ethiopians and their apostate companions,’’ the Islamic group said on its website. The statement boasted that after the blast, militants fired on civilians in the market, “killing five people on the spot.’’
Yeah, that's winning people over. Who benefits from the mass-murdering mayhem?
About 100 soldiers are being sent to Baidoa as an advance team for 2,500 troops soon to be deployed there. The African Union troops will be stationed alongside Ethiopian troops already in Baidoa.
A blast last week in the capital ripped through the national theater, killing 10 people.
--more--"
Can you eat air? I'm stuffed from all the sighing the Boston Globe has me doing.
Ready for the play, readers?
"Bomb explodes at reopening of theater in Somalia, killing four" NEW YORK TIMES, April 05, 2012
MOGADISHU, Somalia - A bomb exploded at a ceremony Wednesday at the newly reopened National Theater in the Somali capital as the prime minister addressed guests, turning an event that had been a sign of growing calm into a grisly reminder of the many troubles still plaguing the country....
Reeks on an inside job and false flag. Who got through security?
Somali officials and some witnesses said a female suicide bomber was responsible.
Oh, PUH-LEEZE!!! We STOPPED BUYING INTO THAT PARTICULAR BIT of PROPAGANDA YEARS AGO!!!!!!
But in a claim of responsibility, Al Shabab, Somalia’s radical Islamist insurgent group, said its operatives had planted explosives at the theater in advance.
Yeah, I can half-believe it.
The blast came amid significant signs of improvement in the capital of Mogadishu, a city ravaged by 21 years of civil war.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.
Hundreds of thousands of residents have returned in recent months, aid groups said, fueling an economic boom that has created thousands of jobs and has begun to draw young men away from violence.
At least it's happening somewhere, and it kind of casts the AmeriKan empire in a different light.
Now if you will excuse me, I need to escort a fine young American man down to the employment office, 'er, military recruitment center this morning.
Construction is taking place across the city, yielding new hospitals, homes, shops, and a hotel.
The theater, which closed in the early 1990s when Mogadishu plunged into violence, reopened last month. It had recently held its first concert in more than two decades, after having been used as an arms depot and then as a toilet.
And really, who benefited?
--more--"
Related: Globe's Somalia Casting Call
Bad actors.
Show's over:
"Somali troops advance against rebels" Associated Press, May 24, 2012
MOGADISHU, Somalia - African Union and Somali forces captured new territory outside Mogadishu that has long been controlled by militant fighters, officials said Wednesday.
Tanks are tearing through the thorny scrubland to the northwest of Mogadishu, where tens of thousands of internal refugees live in informal camps in an area known as the Afgoye corridor.
Troops on Wednesday were about 6 miles from Afgoye town following the launch of the operation on Tuesday.
“Our main effort lies in fighting the terrorism,’’ Brigadier Paul Lokeck of Uganda told reporters visiting the front line....
Abdikarim Yusuf Dhagabadan, chief of Somali armed forces told reporters that his forces are giving civilians a chance to pack their belongings and flee. That advice directly conflicted with a statement from the African Union force in Mogadishu, which encouraged people in the corridor to remain in their homes....
--more--"
"In Somalia, thousands flee as government forces battle Islamist insurgents" May 25, 2012
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Thousands of people in speeding trucks or pulling carts piled high with clothes and furniture fled a region north of Mogadishu Thursday amid the sounds of gunfire and explosions as government troops and their allies tried to take more ground from Islamist insurgents....
The top UN humanitarian official for Somalia, Mark Bowden, has called on African Union and Somali troops to minimize the impact of the fighting on civilians. He said he is concerned prolonged fighting could lead to displacement of settlements where victims of last year’s famine now live.
Mogadishu is already teeming with thousands of displaced people, including squatters recently evicted from government-owned buildings. Rental prices have recently shot up as Somalia’s capital undergoes normalization after two decades of anarchy....
Except for the six months of Muslim rule in 2006 (conveniently forgotten) before the U.S. ordered Ethiopia into Somali.
And how can they even use the world normal to describe.... sigh.
--more--"
"African Union, Somalis seize town" Associated Press, May 26, 2012
MOGADISHU, Somalia - African Union and Somali troops seized a town on the outskirts of Mogadishu on Friday from Islamist militants after three days of fighting, marking the biggest victory over Al Shabab since the progovernment forces took control of the capital last August.
The UN representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, said Friday at a news conference in neighboring Kenya that the progovernment forces needed to capture Afgoye for military and humanitarian reasons.
How many times have we heard that invoked to justify... sigh.
He said Al Shabab manufactured its bombs in Afgoye and that the town “controls the exit and the entries to Mogadishu.
Related: Kenya Comes to Somalia's Rescue
Yeah, thanks.
Honestly, when does more military intervention benefit anyone except globe-kickers and war profiteers?
“And it has been the military concentration and headquarters of the Shabab. Hitting Afgoye would make a significant military breakthrough in the region of Mogadishu,’’ the UN official said.
The Afgoye corridor between Mogadishu and Afgoye is home to the largest concentration of internally displaced people in the world, Mahiga added. He said aid agencies plan to begin helping them.
EXCUSE ME?
I'm glad I stayed to the end, readers.
The UN recently approved a near doubling of the African Union force. Mahiga cautioned that the new troops are deploying far from Mogadishu and that, with progovernment forces being stretched, insurgents could infiltrate back into areas that have already been seized near the capital....
Un-flipping-real!
That simply means western intelligence agency operations and false flags could be carried out anywhere, at any time.
--more--"
Update: Somalia’s leaders OK constitution
I'm sure the people in the camps are thrilled.
