Pronounced "Al-Sha-Bob," as in FeliCIA:
"Pro-Somalia troops secure last Al Shabab bastion" Associated Press October 06, 2014
MOGADISHU, Somalia — African Union and Somali troops on Sunday won control of a key coastal town that had been used by the Islamic militants of Al Shabab, forcing the insurgents from their last significant stronghold and major money-making port.
Who ships things in and out of a "terrorist" port? C'mon!
The African Union said that Barawe, 135 miles southwest of Mogadishu, had not been controlled by Somali government forces since 1993. Al Shabab used the Barawe port to bring in troops and weapons and to export charcoal worth millions of dollars to fund its military operations.
Okay.
Whose buying the charcoal? Why aren't the interdicting pirate patrols of the world not picking up the exports and imports? Satellites are capturing every movement above water. WTF?
The loss of Barawe is the latest blow to Al Shabab, which has seen the territory it controls shrink rapidly since 2011, when its fighters fled Mogadishu after years of urban, close-range combat with African Union troops. Al Shabab once controlled nearly all of the seaside Somali capital.
One month ago, on Sept. 1, US airstrikes targeted and killed Al Shabab’s leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was the spiritual leader of the group, which is linked to Al Qaeda. The United States had offered a reward of up to $7 million for information leading to his arrest.
Related: Goddamn Godane is Dead
Godane had publicly claimed Al Shabab was responsible for last year’s deadly attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, in which 67 people were killed.
Turns out that was all crap.
Somali military officials said Al Shabab fighters left Barawe before African Union and Somali troops entered the town. The retreating rebels tried to ambush the government forces at the city’s edge but were unsuccessful.
Whatever.
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