Thursday, January 1, 2015

Kenyan Led Al Shabab Attack on African Union Base in Somalia

1/1/2015

MOGADISHU – A renegade Kenyan used his knowledge of the Swahili language and his nationality to help the radical jihadist group Al-Shabab stage a deadly Christmas Day attack on the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM).

The boastful admission was made on an audio tape released by the Islamist organization to which Efe had access, and was recorded hours before the attack that killed a civilian contractor and three soldiers of the AMISOM.

The Kenyan national, self-identifying as Omar Said, said in the recording that he is willing to die for the jihadist cause and eager to kill “infidels and enemies of Islam,” referring to soldiers of the AMISOM.

A Somali who is one of the leaders of the cell, justified the attack by claiming that the AMISOM troops, in collaboration with the federal government, intend to propagate Christianity and kill Muslim leaders.

Adan Nur Idris, or Sahal, said that he has been fighting for seven years and took part in the assault on the African Union base in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, because it was where “Christian soldiers organize attacks to kill our leaders.”

Sahal explained that the operation was meant to avenge the death of Al-Shabab’s former leader, Ahmed Godane, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike last September.

Although al-Shabab fighters fully prepared for the operation, they met with great resistance inside the African Union base. Four of the attackers were killed during the fighting and the other four were eventually apprehended.

The Kenyan government has been investigating the presence of its citizens in the ranks of al-Shabab, and suspects that many attacks carried out in the northeast and in the coastal area were organized by individuals with Kenyan nationality.


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