U.S. troops are ON the GROUND!
"US carries out counterterrorism strike in Somalia" by Craig Whitlock | Washington Post September 02, 2014
WASHINGTON — The US military carried out a counterterrorism strike Monday against leaders of the militant group al-Shabab in Somalia, Pentagon officials said, although it was unclear whether the operation was successful.
Journalists in Somalia reported that suspected US drones fired missiles near the port city of Barawe, a stronghold for al-Shabab. In a rare acknowledgment of its clandestine military activities in Somalia, the Pentagon said it had conducted a counterterrorism operation there but gave no details.
It is not clandestine to the people living there. It is only to the American reader.
‘‘We are assessing the results of the operation and will provide additional information as and when appropriate,’’ Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement late Monday.
The Pentagon statement did not say whether the operation was limited to drone strikes or whether US commandos had been present on the ground.
Nearly one year ago, on Oct. 5, Navy SEALs raided a seaside house in Barawe in an attempt to capture Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir, a Kenyan native and senior al-Shabab commander. That raid sparked a gunfight but was unsuccessful; US officials said the SEALs withdrew because the risk of harming bystanders had become too great.
They keep shoveling such shit!
The Obama administration has since posted a $3 million reward for information leading to Abdulkadir’s arrest or capture. A State Department bounty notice describes him as being about 35 years old, with a thick mustache and three missing fingers on his left hand.
The US government’s Voice of America news service, which broadcasts programs to Somalia, reported that a target of the attack may have been the alleged mastermind of al-Shabab’s attack on an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2013. That individual, Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Godane, has emerged in recent years as the primary leader of al-Shabab, which means ‘‘the youth’’ in Arabic. The group has ties to Al Qaeda.
What a bunch of crap.
Yup, Al-CIA-Bob connected to Al-CIA-Duh.
Voice of America, citing militants and African Union security sources in Somalia, reported that Godane was in the vicinity of the attack, but his fate was unknown. The broadcaster’s report could not be independently verified.
They want to be able to haul him out of the grave later.
The US military frequently conducts drone surveillance flights over Somalia, but airstrikes and ground raids are relatively uncommon.
The Pentagon has a large drone base at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, which borders Somalia on the Horn of Africa. The US military also flies surveillance drones over Somalia from a base in Ethiopia.
The Pentagon quietly deployed a small team of advisers to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in October 2013 to coordinate operations with African troops fighting to wrest control of the country from al-Shabab.
Who kept it quiet?
The deployment marked the first time regular US troops have been stationed in the war-ravaged country since 1993, when two helicopters were shot down and 18 Americans were killed in the ‘‘Black Hawk Down’’ disaster.
US commandos have intermittently conducted raids and operations in the country as well, but the military has kept their activities cloaked in secrecy.
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You might want to take a look at the other drone wars, readers.
"12 killed as Somali army repels attack on prison" Associated Press September 01, 2014
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Government forces regained control of a high-security prison in the capital that was attacked Sunday by seven heavily armed suspected Islamic militants attempting to free other extremists held there, officials said.
All the attackers, three government soldiers, and two civilians were killed, said Information Minister Mustafa Duhulow. He denounced the extremists as ‘‘against the security improvements we are currently experiencing here in Mogadishu and all they want is for the world to believe that Mogadishu is not safe. However, loudly we say to them that these foiled attacks strengthen our forces and prove their bravery to the people of Somalia.’’
Mogadishu’s Godka Jilacow prison, the scene of the Sunday morning attack, is a key interrogation center for Somalia’s intelligence agency and many suspected militants are believed to be held in underground cells there.
It's a torture chamber!
Somali police Captain Mohamed Hussein said the attackers were ‘‘trying to free terrorists held in the prison.’’
The Somali rebel group Al Shabab, which is linked to Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack that shattered a period of calm in Mogadishu, which is stabilizing after nearly 20 years of chaotic violence.
The attack started when a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the prison gate, followed by gunmen who fought their way into the prison. Guards fought the attackers who threw grenades to penetrate the prison’s defenses, police said.
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"US airstrike in Somalia targets Al Shabab leader" by Jeffrey Gettleman | New York Times September 03, 2014
NAIROBI — Somali and US officials said Tuesday that the leader of Al Shabab, the Somali militant group that has allied itself with Al Qaeda and terrorized civilians in the region for years, might have been killed in a US airstrike.
Might have?
Officials said the strike took place on a small village near Barawe, a well-known Al Shabab den. They said the Al Shabab leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, might have been in a vehicle hit during the attack, but they were awaiting further details before they could confirm whether he had been killed.
(Blog editor just shaking his head at another piece of s*** propaganda)
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said US warplanes conducted the strikes Saturday evening, dropping a number of Hellfire missiles and precision bombs on an encampment. A vehicle at the encampment was also struck, he said.
Defense officials said they believed that both the encampment and the vehicle were destroyed, but they were still trying to determine whether Godane was killed.
“We certainly believe that we hit what we were aiming at,” Kirby said during a news briefing. He said the United States would “continue to use all the tools at our disposal” to “dismantle Al Shabab and other terrorist groups.”
One US official in Nairobi said “we’re 80 percent sure” Godane was killed in the strike. Still, militants in places such as Yemen and Pakistan have been thought to be killed in drone strikes, only to resurface weeks or months later, crowing about having survived US attempts to kill them.
Yeah, the shell game is over. This is such shit.
Related: Yemeni president dismisses Cabinet to ease tension
First thing I've seen about Yemen in a long, long time. WTF?
“There were no boots on the ground,” added the US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Even if there were they would not tell us or would call them by another name.
The official said there had been strong intelligence indicating that several senior Al Shabab leaders, including Godane, had been meeting at a location targeted by US commandos.
Godane is one of the most wanted figures in Africa, widely believed to have orchestrated countless attacks on civilians, including the massacre of dozens of shoppers at a mall in Nairobi last year.
That whole event was another staged and scripted production.
He has presided over a reign of terror inside Somalia for several years, organizing the stoning of teenage girls and public amputations. During Somalia’s famine in 2011, when more than 200,000 people died, Al Shabab fighters, at his orders, blocked food supplies to starving people and diverted rivers from famished farmers.
Godane also has taken Al Shabab’s violence international by organizing suicide attacks in Kenya and Uganda.
US commandos have winnowed down the leadership of Al Shabab, killing other leaders in airstrikes over the years, while thousands of African Union troops have pushed the group out of the capital, Mogadishu, and many of its strongholds.
But?
Al Shabab is not nearly as powerful as it once was, when it controlled vast areas of southern Somalia and nearly overran the government. However, Al Shabab still controls some towns and villages, and in recent days, it has stepped up assassinations of Somali officials in Mogadishu.
Yup, whatever.
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