At Least 50 Slain By Islamist Gunmen in Northern Kenya

Police and eyewitnesses in the coastal town of Mpeketoni say that dozens of gunmen attacked on Sunday night, killing at least fifty after opening fire on pedestrians, hotels and fans gathered to watch a World Cup match in a meeting hall and setting fire to houses and vehicles.

According to witnesses, the attackers arrived in minibuses and fanned out. Some of them accosted villagers and shopkeepers before asking if they were Muslim or spoke Somali- apparently shooting them if they received an unsatisfactory answer. Others proceeded to hotels or the meeting hall where the World Cup was being shown, separated the women from the men before shooting them in front of the women. The rampage reportedly lasted for more than three hours before the gunmen were pursued by arriving Kenyan troops.

The Somalia-based Al Shabaab terror group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a Somali website. Al Shabaab seeks to topple Somalia's UN-backed government in Mogadishu and replace it with an Islamic state governed by Shari'a law and has launched cross-border raids into Kenya, attacking police and abducting westerners for ransom. The group has previously launched terrorist attacks in Kenya and Uganda in retaliation for those nations sending troops to Somalia as part of an African Union peacekeeping force. Last September, Al Shabaab terrorists launched a brazen attack in the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya that killed at least 67. In 2010, Al Shabaab was responsible for twin suicide bombings of crowds gathered to watch the World Cup in Uganda's capital of Kampala.

Mpekitoni is located near the Lamu Islands and about 100km south of the border with Somalia and near the UNESCO World Heritage site on Lamu Island and has been popular with tourists since the 1970s. However, a number of Western governments- including the USA, UK, Canada, France and Australia- have issued advisories to their citizens about travelling in Kenya and Al Shabaab had previously threatened that tourists visiting Kenya were jeopardizing their lives by doing so.

US Special Operations Raids in Africa Target Terrorist Leaders

Members of the US Navy's SEAL Team 6 carried out a raid at a compound in southern Somalia that was believed to be housing senior members of the Al Shabaab islamist terrorist group over the weekend. Experts said the raid was aborted midway when the SEALs were spotted and a firefight broke out, negating the chances of taking their intended target alive.

As the mission progressed, the SEALs came out of the Indian Ocean in small boats before dawn, but they were spotted as they moved toward a seaside compound. A firefight broke out.

With the element of surprise gone, the SEALs lost their chance to take him alive. The SEAL commander decided not to call in air strikes because of women and children in the compound. Instead, he ordered his men to withdraw to a Navy ship offshore.

The raid comes less than two weeks after gunmen from Al Shabaab massacred at least 68 people in a shopping mall in the Kenyan capitol of Nairobi.

On Monday, the Kenyan military released the identities of the mall attackers who were killed when the portion of the mall they were in collapsed in an explosion. They include an American Somali known as Khattab al-Kene, who may have been living under a different name in Minnesota. Other assailants identified included a Sudanese national with purported Al Qaeda ties and couple of Kenyan muslims from Mombassa- including Omar Nabhan who is said to have a role in the 1998 twin bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi and the Tanzanian capitol of Dar Es Salaam as well as a 2002 attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa and a failed attempt to shoot down a chartered Israeli passenger plane.

The intended target of the Somali raid is reportedly an al Shabaab operative known as Abdulkadir Mohamed Abdulkadir or Ikrima. Kenya's intelligence agency has implicated Abdulkadir in a thwarted plot to attack Kenya's parliament and UN Offices in Nairobi.

The mall attacks represent a dramatic shift for al Shabaab, which got its start in the Horn of Africa a few years ago with the stated goal of implementing islamic shari'a law and overthrowing Somalia's provisional government.

Last month, the Toronto Star obtained documents from one of Abdulkadir's predecessors that highlighted detailed plans for an attack against civilian targets in London using tactics reminiscent of the 2008 Lashkar-e-Taliba terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India that targeted upscale hotels, cafes and Mumbai's Chabad House. The documents were discovered in a Toyota where al Shabaab commander Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was shot an killed by Somali troops while attempting to run a roadblock northwest of Mogadishu in 2011.

Also over the weekend, an Al Qaeda operative under indictment for the 1998 twin embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania was arrested in Tripoli, Libya

The Pentagon said senior al Qaeda figure Anas al Liby was seized in the raid in Libya [....]

Liby, believed to be 49, has been under U.S. indictment for his alleged role in the East Africa embassy bombings that killed 224 people. The U.S. government has also been offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture, under the State Department's Rewards for Justice program. "As the result of a U.S. counterterrorism operation, Abu Anas al Liby is currently lawfully detained by the U.S. military in a secure location outside of Libya," Pentagon spokesman George Little said without elaborating. Liby, also known as Nazih al-Ragye, was arrested at dawn in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as he was heading home after morning prayers, a neighbor and militia sources said. "As I was opening my house door, I saw a group of cars coming quickly from the direction of the house where al-Ragye lives. I was shocked by this movement in the early morning," said one of his neighbors, who did not give his name, "They kidnapped him. We do not know who are they." Two Islamist militia sources confirmed the incident. CNN reported in September last year that Liby had been seen Tripoli. It quoted Western intelligence sources as saying there was concern that he may have been tasked with establishing an al Qaeda network in Libya. That CNN report quoted counterterrorism analysts as saying that Liby may not have been apprehended then because of the delicate security situation in much of the country, where former jihadists hold sway. It quoted one intelligence source as saying that Liby appeared to have arrived in Libya in the spring of 2011, during the country's civil war.

Al Liby was spotted in the Libyan capitol shortly after Ghdaffi's downfall and is believed to be establishing a foothold for Al Qaeda in post-Ghdaffi Libya.

Kenyan Forces Re-Take Nairobi Mall Attacked By Al Shabaab Terrorists, At Least 39 Still Missing

The death toll in last week's terrorist attack at an upscale shopping mall in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi has reached 67 with aid agencies saying that at least 39 people were still unaccounted for after a withering firefight and series of bomb blasts as Kenyan security forces re-took the building floor by floor.

A twitter account purportedly belonging to the Somali-based Al Shabaab islamist group claimed responsibility for the massacre and threatened further attacks in Kenya, although the ownership of a second, English language account couldn't be independently verified. Twitter reportedly suspended the first Al Shabaab account within hours of the mall attack.

Kenyan soldiers and medical officials said that some of the victim's bodies they found had shown signs of torture and mutilation in addition to those who were shot while trying to flee.

Investigators believe that the assailants or their associates rented a shop in the Westgate mall in the months leading up to the terrorist attack, smuggling in weapons and explosives unnoticed. Kenya's intelligence service reportedly warned lawmakers that Al Shabaab was casing a number of potential targets within the country- including the mall- about a year or so before the attack as part of a routine situational report to that government's legislators.

Reports of some of the terrorists being identified as Americans or at least from the Somali community in and around Minneapolis and St Paul, MN have also reportedly caught the attention of the Minneapolis branch of the FBI, although that has yet to be confirmed. A Somali activist in Minnesota said that his warnings about the Abubakar as-Siddique mosque in the Twin Cities being used as a recruiting center for Al Shabaab or other islamist groups in recent years were either ignored or downplayed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Investigators from both the FBI and Scotland Yard are reportedly on scene in Nairobi to comb through forensic evidence left behind at the Westgate mall.

Meanwhile, Interpol has released a 'Red Notice' arrest bulletin for a British convert to Islam named Samantha Lewthwaite, who was a widow of one of the 7/7 London bombers and was thought to have participated in the attacks- eyewitnesses describe a pale-skinned woman taking part in the attacks early on.

Islamic Terrorists Murder At Least 39 In Attack on Shopping Mall in Kenya's Capital, Hostages Still Reportedly Trapped

Jonathan Kalan- AP Photo

Officials in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi are reporting that at least 39 people have been killed in a gun and grenade attack on an upscale shopping mall that was popular with expats, well-heeled Kenyans and diplomats.

At least 39 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in the attacks, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a televised address late Saturday. Wearing a casual plaid shirt, Mr. Kenyatta offered his condolences to those who lost loved ones—and included himself in that group.

"I know what you feel having also personally lost very close family members in this attack," Mr. Kenyatta said, without elaborating further. He called the strike a terrorist attack and urged Kenyans not to give in to fear.

The death toll is expected to rise as police make their way through the large complex, which has three main floors and a smaller fourth floor housing a movie theater, to confront the assailants, who they believe are holding hostages.

The Kenyan government's National Disaster Operation Center said that Kenyan military and special forces had taken control of the upper floors of the mall but that lower floors were still unsecured.

It wasn't clear how many people were still trapped inside.

Patrons of the mall were sitting down for lunch or strolling through the facility when cars packed with an unknown number of gunmen drove up to the main entrance of the mall around 12:30 p.m. and started shooting as they rushed through the open doors where guests usually wait in line to have their bags checked by security guards, witnesses said.

The attackers shot into the crowds of people at outdoor restaurants and pushed farther into the mall, firing their weapons and throwing grenades as they raced to the higher levels of the mall. Shoppers crawled into back storerooms and bathrooms, locking doors where they could. At least one bank was able to lock its customers in a safe room, witnesses said. Those near exits raced out of the mall, some taking refuge in nearby apartment buildings to catch their breath and call family members.

Police arrived and cordoned off the parking lot, at first believing they were dealing with a robbery attempt. But as wounded survivors started piling into ambulances it became clear that the attackers had opened fire, that they hadn't appeared to be after anything and that they seemed to be targeting non-Muslims.

Police and military forces slowly started the work of pushing into the mall and pulling out those hiding and the injured while trying to close in on the attackers without knowing exactly how many assailants there were or where they were shooting from.

As survivors emerged, some with their hands up to show they weren't carrying weapons, Red Cross workers escorted them to a nearby building and assured them they were safe.

Canada's Ministry of foreign affairs has confirmed that at least two citizens, including a diplomat from the embassy, were among those killed in Saturday's terrorist attack. Reports were also circulating that four American nationals were injured in Saturday's attack. The death toll is expected to increase amid reports that the attackers took a number of hostages as they moved through the mall.

Police had initially believed the gunfire was from armed robbers until survivors emerged from the mall and told police and reporters how the assailants were firing indiscriminately, lobbing grenades and singling out non-Muslims for execution. By early Sunday, there were conflicting reports that the police had one of the wounded attackers in custody and the rest were barricaded inside a Nakumatt supermarket within the mall.

The Somalia-based Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attacks and said that there would be no negotiations between the hostage takers and Kenyan security forces. In recent years, Al Shabaab has attacked Somalia's UN-backed interim government, engaged in piracy and kidnapped foreign nationals for ransom. The terrorist group has threatened both Kenya and Uganda for sending troops to Somalia in support of the interim government as part of an African Union peacekeeping force.

Sunday's shooting would be the deadliest terror attack in Kenya since the summer of 1998 when Al Qaeda launched simultaneous attacks targeting the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

In 2010, Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Kampala, Uganda that killed more than 70 people and coincided with the finale of the 2010 World Cup. In 2012, a combined Somali and Kenyan military force launched raids into Somali territory targeting Al Shabaab-held towns and encampments.

UPDATE- 9/22: Officials have revised the death toll to 59 while the total injured is said to be 175. Kenya's NTV reports that there are still anywhere from 10 to 15 attackers barricaded in the market.

Horn of Africa Update- Somali, Ethiopian Troops Seize Al-Shabaab Stronghold; US Airstrike Kills Foreign Fighters; Somaliland Open for Business?

Somali troops seen on the move outside of Baidoa

SOMALIA- Backed by Ethiopian troops, the nascent Somali army captured one of al Shabaab's strongholds in the central part of the country last week.

AFP - Truckloads of Ethiopian and Somali troops on Wednesday captured the strategic Somali city of Baidoa from Al-Qaeda allied Shebab insurgents, who vowed to avenge the loss.

"We have taken control of Baidoa without a single shot, it is a great day for the people who are now welcoming us warmly," said Muhidin Ali, a Somali government military commander in Baidoa.

Baidoa, 250 kilometres (155 miles) northeast of the capital Mogadishu, is one of the main bases of the hardline Shebab, and its capture deals a major blow to the insurgents, who control large parts of southern and central Somalia.

Sporadic shooting was reported on the outskirts of the town, but residents said the city was largely calm.

"We are at the centre now and moving towards every corners of the town, to ensure that we are in full control," Ali added. "The enemy fled the city before our army has reached the town empty."

Ethiopian troops, who moved into southern and western Somalia in November, began a major push Tuesday towards Baidoa, which hosted the transitional parliament before Islamist rebels seized the town in 2009.

"There was no fighting, the Somali troops and the Ethiopian forces entered the town, setting up their base at the police station and the main crossroads in town," said Abdulahi Hassan, a resident.

"People are out in the streets watching the soldiers who are gradually moving into the different parts of the city."

Witnesses had said earlier that Shebab fighters and their families were seen fleeing Baidoa towards rebel-held Afgoye.

"Many people, most of them Al-Shebab families and supporters, are fleeing Baidoa," said Hussein Ali, a resident. "They are heading towards the Afgoye."

An al Shabaab commander confirmed the retreat, calling it a strategic withdrawl and promising more bloodshed and attacks against the Somali transitional government and African Union peacekeepers.

In recent years, forces from Somalia's transitional government controlled little more than a few blocks within the capital city of Mogadishu as the Islamic militia al-Shabaab swept through the countryside.

Less than a week before al Shabaab forces fled Baidoa, an al Shabaab commander and 13 other fighters were killed in clashes with Kenyan security forces in the southern part of Somalia.

Then Kenyans reportedly ambushed al Shabaab financier Mohamed Asmaya in Somali territory near the Kenyan border and seized a number of areas that provided the islamic militia with the bulk of its financial support.

On Friday, two foreign members of al-Shabaab were killed in an airstrike by a US drone about 60km south of Mogadishu.

Somali militants say that a Moroccan was killed in a strike that a U.S. official said was carried out by an American drone.

The statement Saturday on an al-Shabab website named the dead Moroccan as Sheik Abu Ibrahim. The statement said two others - including a second foreigner - were killed in the overnight Friday attack.
A U.S. official told The Associated Press the attack was carried out by a drone. Somali officials identified another of the militants killed in the attack as a Kenyan citizen.

Local reports claim that the total number killed in the airstrike was 4.

PUNTLAND- While under pressure from troops from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia's transitional government as well as African Union peacekeepers in the South, Al Shabaab made its way north into the semiautonomous Puntland region, reportedly joining forces with a previously unaffiliated militia.

An Islamist militia group in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region has merged with the al Shabaab rebel group, said the insurgents on Saturday, a union which threatens to destabilize the relatively secure area targeted by oil explorers.

Al Shabaab said it wanted to scrap the licenses of Western oil and gas firms drilling in Puntland. The al Qaeda-backed insurgents used social media site twitter to declare all oil and gas exploration and drilling licenses nullified.

While they do not hold the administrative control in the region needed to enforce their demand, the militants could try to target installations operated by Western oil companies.
The union comes as the insurgents are being weakened, relinquishing ground to African Union troops around the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and losing territory to Kenyan and Ethiopian forces in parts of southern and central Somalia.

Puntland security officials have previously said the Islamist militia camped out in the Golis hills outside the port city of Bosasso is led by Yasin Khalid Osman.

"I ... the leader of Golis ranges Islamists have signed an agreement with al Shabaab leader Sheikh Muktar Abu Zubeir. We are now al Shabaab," a voice identifying itself as Osman said in an audio recording on al Shabaab's website.

"I urge residents to take part in the jihad against the Christian invaders and the Somali infidels that work with them," he said, referring to the foreign troops inside Somalia.

Osman rarely makes statements and it was not immediately possible to verify his voice.

Al Shabaab's announcement comes a month after western companies began drilling an exploratory well in Puntland- the first to be sunk since the 1991 collapse of the Said Barre regime that left Somalia without a functioning government for more than 20 years.

Canadian-based Africa Oil Corp [TSX- AOI.V] along with Australian-based Red Emperor Resources [LSX: RMP] and Range Resources [ASX: RRS] are targetting what could be 300 million barrels worth of recoverable oil.

Somaliland moneychanger with stacks of Somaliland shillings in the capital city of Hargeisa- photo; Phoenix of Somalia

SOMALILAND- In the hopes of attracting foreign investment to the relatively stable breakaway region of Somalia, Somaliland has established a UK-linked development corporation to circumvent concerns over potential problems arising from the fact that it is not recognized as an independent state.

President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo told Reuters that the purpose of the Somaliland Development Corporation was to "to attract companies and institutions which want to invest in our country."

"Since we are not a recognised country, insurance is always a difficult problem in Somaliland so if this can help with that, it would be useful."

Silanyo did not indicate what economic sectors he wished investors to target. But energy and mining minister Hussein Abdi Dualeh said in November the northern enclave had hydrocarbon potential with a geology similar to basins containing 9 billion barrels across the Gulf of Aden.

A number of big oil companies with permits to operate there left what is now Somaliland in the late 1980s and declared force majeure during Somalia's escalating civil conflict.

Several foreign banks have expressed interest in operating in Somaliland where they are keen to capitalise on its untapped market potential. Somaliland has no formal banking sector and its people rely heavily on remittances from diaspora communities in Europe, North America and the United Arab Emirates, as there are no ATMs or loan facilities.

Somaliland was briefly independent from Britian in 1960 before joining the rest of Somalia. However, with the 1991 collapse of the Barre regime, Somaliland once again declared independence. Despite establishing the rule of law as well as trading with Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and a number of Gulf States, circulating its own currency and aiding international navies in combatting piracy, Somaliland's independence remains unrecognized by most nations as well as the UN and a number of international agencies.

Currently, Somaliland's economy depends heavily on remittances from Somalis overseas, but the breakaway nation has been doing a robust business in exporting cattle and camels

Some speculate that if Somaliland gains internationally recognized independence from Somalia, it could trigger a number of similar secssionist movements throughout Africa.

MOGADISHU- The director of a Mogadishu radio station that was once shut down by al Shabaab was shot and killed by two unknown gunmen at his home this week, becoing the third journalist to be slain since December 2011.

Radio Somaliweyn is an independent radio station operating in northern Mogadishu.

The National Union of Somali Journalists has condemned the killings. Union Secretary General Mohamed Ibrahim said it is not clear why Mohamoud was targeted, but noted that in recent times he was involved in civil society activities.

“He was planning to bring the radio on air again. The reason is yet unclear, though he was very involved in civil society activism, such as youth in Banadir region in recent days. This is a really worrying trend for the journalists working in Mogadishu and the government has not done enough to investigate and bring suspects for prosecution,” said Ibrahim.

The killing came just a month after another journalist, Radio Shabelle Network Director Hassan Osman Abdi, was gunned down outside his house in Mogadishu. The Transitional Federal Government promised to investigate the murder and arrested two suspects.

In December, a government soldier killed journalist Abdisalan His at a checkpoint in the capital.

A number of media-rights groups say that due to the prolonged lack of any form of government, Somalia is the most dangerous country in Africa for journalists.

INDIA- Due to a steep decline in the number of pirate attacks off the western coast of India from Somali-based pirates, India plans on petitioning the International Maritime Organization to de-list their territorial waters from a list of high-risk nautical areas.

Citing the noticable dip in pirate attacks as well as increased patrolling by the Indian Navy off the west coast, India is hoping that the de-listing would lower insurance premiums on vessels operating through that area and possibly decrease demand for armed guards on some ships. The increased costs of both the insurance and armed protection means that the cost of shipping goods would be passed along to consumers worldwide.

Following aggressive expansion by the pirates further off the coast of Somalia and closer to Indian territorial waters, the Indian Navy stepped up patrols off the Western coast in 2011 resulting in the capture of a number of pirates and sinking a captured pirate 'mothership' which the pirates would use to launch smaller vessels to stage attacks on ships.

However, as recently as December 2011, Indian Navy officials warned that Somali pirates remained within striking distance of the southwestern archipelego of Lakshadweep.

UK- During an international conference on Somalia last week, Britain announced that it would pledge £20 million for a rapid reaction force to train police in areas retaken from al Shabaab.

Under the plans, Britain will contribute £20 million to a 'stability fund' for Somalia to help its new government secure the territory it has won from the al-Qaeda backed insurgency.

This will pay for a civilian force of “chino-clad warriors” who will be sent into vulnerable areas to help establish a police presence, health care facilities, schools and basic services before the militants can return.

The fund would target areas where either al-Shabaab had been driven out completely, or reduced as a fighting force. Its experts would be trained in forging local peace deals as well as overseeing government services in battle-ravaged regions. Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, said Britain hoped to attract further backing from around the world for the scheme. Somalia has had no functional government for two decades and has been described by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, as “the world’s most failed state”.

In addition to the 40-nation conference in London, the United Nations security council is expected to take up a resolution regarding increasing the number of peacekeepers in the Horn of Africa. Currently, the African Union is combatting al-Shabaab in Somalia with soldiers from Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti while Ethiopian and Kenyan troops operating seperately from each other and the AU force have opened up a second and third front against al Shabaab elsewhere in the country.

Horn of Africa Update- Suspected Al Shabaab Car Bomb Kills 70 in Mogadishu; Somali Pirates Sentenced in Murder of American Yachters

MOGADISHU: The Islamic Al-Shabaab militia took credit for a deadly truck bombing that tore through the heart of Mogadishu, killing at least 70 people on a crowded street outside of the Ministry of Education this week.

A truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded outside the Ministry of Education, where students accompanied by their parents registered for scholarships offered by the Turkish government. The thunderous blast covered the city in dust more than a half-mile away, leaving blackened corpses sprawled on the debris-strewn street amid burning vehicles. One woman used a blue plastic bucket to pour water on a smoldering body.


Even in a city mired in war and anarchy for two decades, Tuesday's attack by the al-Shabab group horrified rescue workers. Ali Abdullahi, a nurse at the city's Medina Hospital, said countless victims were being brought in with amputated limbs and burns.

"It is the most awful tragedy I have ever seen," he said. "Imagine dozens are being brought here minute by minute. Most of the wounded people are unconscious and others have their faces blackened by smoke and heat."

Duniya Salad sobbed over her brother's burnt body after he died while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

"They killed him before he started university! Why was he killed? Damn to al-Shabab," she said.
Al-Shabab, which was formed about five years ago, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a website it uses.

"Our Mujahideen fighters have entered a place where ministers and AMISOM foreigners stay," al-Shabab said in a brief post on a website, referring to the Ugandan and Burundian forces who make up the African Union peacekeeping mission.

The attack took place on one of the busiest streets in the capital, and it was not clear whether the Ministry of Education was the intended target.

In the last few days, the death toll from the attack has climbed past 100, as hospitalized victims have succumbed to their injuries. The bomber was reportedly a dropout named Bashar Abdullah Nur who wanted Somali youth to abandon secular eduacation and take up arms in jihad instead.

This is the part where I remind you that Somalia hasn't had a functioning government since 1991 when Said Barre's autocratic regime collapsed in a civil war that fractured most of the country into feuding fiefdoms controlled by bandits, pirates, warlords, smugglers and Islamic militias.

Backed by peacekeepers from Burundi and Uganda, Somalia's transitional government was able to clear the Somali capital of al Shabaab militants over the last year, although the Islamic terrorist group still controls large swaths of territory to the south of the capital and is reportedly fighting against Yemeni government forces with their Al Qaeda counterparts on the Arabian Peninsula. To hardly anybody's surprise, Al-Shabaab has vowed to carry out further attacks.

VIRGINIA: The leader of a gang of Somali pirates who hijacked an American yacht off the coast of Yemen and murdered the 3 Californians on board received a life sentence at a federal court in Norfolk, VA this week.

Mohamud Salad Ali is the fifth of 11 men who have pleaded guilty to piracy in the case to be sentenced.

He received a second life sentence that he'll serve concurrently with the other one because he also pleaded guilty to hostage taking resulting in death. That charge carried the possibility of the death penalty, but prosecutors agreed to the lesser sentence as part of a plea deal.

Ali has detailed for investigators how piracy operations in Somalia work and has agreed to help prosecutors as they pursue charges against other men.

None of those who have pleaded guilty in the case so far are believed to have been the triggermen. Three other men are charged with murder and other death penalty-eligible counts.
Ali -- a former policeman who recruited men for the expedition -- was on board a U.S. Navy warship at the time the killings happened.

The Navy had offered to let the pirates take the 58-foot sailboat in exchange for the hostages, but the men refused because they wouldn't get the kind of money they wanted. Hostages are typically ransomed for millions of dollars.

"Mohamud Salad Ali led the pirate attack, and his refusal to release the four Americans -- even with the opportunity to proceed to Somalia with the Quest -- reveals the callous regard that Somali pirates have for their hostages and the threat they pose to any U.S. vessel on the high seas," U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said in a written statement.

Two other pirates had been sentenced this week to life in prison for their role in the February hijacking. Aside from Californians Jean and Scott Adam, four of the Somali pirates were killed in close-quarters combat when US sailors boarded the hijacked vessel.

KENYA: Two European tourists were abducted from upscale resorts along the Kenyan coast in separate incidents in the past month. In mid September, a British tourist was shot to death and his wife was abducted by gunmen on a speedboat in the Kenyan island of Lamu, less than 50 miles south of Kenya's border with Somalia.

The defense minister for Somalia's transitional government says that it's possible that al-Shabaab could be holding the woman for ransom, but didn't rule out the possibility of bandits. Police in Kenya and the UK believe that somebody on the staff might have tipped off the kidnappers, who had checked in a few hours before the gunmen raided the resort.

Members of the al Shabaab-linked Ras Kamboni brigades have calimed credit for the kidnapping- and announced that they were using her as a human shield to protect themselves from US Predator drone airstrikes amid multiple reports that the captive Briton was being held in an Island in Somali waters.

In the beginning of October, a disabled French woman was abducted by gunmen from her vacation home on the Kenyan island of Manda- across a lagoon from Lamu. Despite a brief chase and firefight with the Kenyan Navy, the abductors were able to slip back into Somali territory and the woman is reportedly being held in a coastal area in southern Somalia's Lower Jubba Region.

SEYCHELLES: British officials have announced the formation of a task force in the Indian Ocean island chain of they Seychelles that will be dedicated to tracking the pirate financiers and ransom money.

Ministers plan to despatch officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency to staff a new Indian Ocean unit dedicated to hunting pirate financiers, who provide start-up cash for gangs in return for the lion's share of ransom proceeds.

A financier who offers as little $10,000 to equip a gang with skiffs, fuel and guns can easily expect a return of 10 or 20 times his money in the event of a successful hijacking.

But while such profits are now believed to run into tens of millions of dollars a year, relatively little is known about exactly where the cash ends up, beyond a widespread acknowledgement that it makes the gangs ever more powerful, and may also line the pockets of Somalia's al-Shabaab Islamist movement.

"Pirate financiers are the kingpins of piracy," said Henry Bellingham, Foreign Office minister for Africa, who will announce details of the new centre in a speech to the Chamber of Shipping in London on Wednesday. "Effectively targeting them will have a huge impact on the ability of pirates to terrorise the high seas."

The new unit will be based in the Seychelles Islands, nearly 1,000 miles east of Kenya, which have now become a key forward operating base against pirate gangs as they spread their reach across the Indian Ocean.

As Somali pirates stage attacks further east, local fishermen and tourism officials in the Seychelles fear that pirate activity could do long-term harm to the small island nation's economy.

Another Horn of Africa Update: U.S. Commandos Re-Take Japanese Tanker; Danish Yacht Seized by Pirates

OMAN: U.S. Commandos have boarded a Japanese oil tanker that was seized by pirates off the coast of Oman and re-taken the vessel without firing a shot on Sunday.

Twenty-four crew members on the MV Guanabara took refuge in a protected part of the vessel after reporting they were under attack Saturday, roughly 328 nautical miles southeast of Duqm in southern Oman.

A special unit from the destroyer USS Bulkeley boarded the oil tanker Sunday and detained the suspected pirates, according to a news release from the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). No shots were fired and no injuries were reported.

"The ships and aircraft under my command have today scored a real and immediate victory through the disruption of a suspected act of piracy and the detention of individuals believed to be engaging in piracy," CMF's counter-piracy commander, Abdul Alheem, said in a statement.

Two vessels from the NATO counter-piracy task force- the USS Bulkeley and the Turkish frigate TCG Giresun- received a distress call from the Guanabara and shadowed the vessel before it was boarded by the commandos.

The captured pirates will reportedly face trial in Tokyo.

PUNTLAND: Seven Danish nationals were captured by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on Feb. 24th after their yacht was seized. This captives includes a family of five (the parents and three children) as well as 2 crew members.

An official from the village of Bandarbeyla in Puntland said that it was likely the Danes were being held in a mountainous region called Hul Anod. The official also said that a warship was spotted some 1.5 miles off the coast of the village and cautioned against any sort of military operation after the massacre of 4 Americans at sea last month.

According to piracy expert, the average ransom payout for a large shipping vessel and its crew is in the neighborhood of $5 million. A couple from the UK were released in September 2010 reportedly after a ransom of $1 million was paid out.

MOGADISHU: Somali officials have reported that an American from Alabama who joined the Al Shabaab Islamist group was killed in clashes with soldiers from the Somali transitional government and African Union peacekeepers this week.

Somali Defense Minister Abdihakim Mohamud Haji Fiqi told The Associated Press that Somali officials do not have a body and that the intelligence reports have not yet been confirmed.

"We have information saying that he died," Fiqi said. "I'm not sure 100 percent sure but this is the information that we get from different sources. We need to make sure."

Omar Hammami, who grew up in the middle-class town of Daphne, Alabama, joined the al-Qaida-linked Somali militants in 2007 while he was in his early 20s. He became the most high-profile American member of al-Shabab and had taken on the nom de guerre of Abu Mansour al-Amriki, or "the American."

Forces from the Somali transitional government, backed by African Union peacekeepers have been mounting a countrattack against the Islamist al Shabaab militia. On Monday, the Somali and multinational forces were able to seize control of the border town of Bulo Hawo- along the Kenyan and Ethiopian border- from Al Shabaab; the first time forces from the UN-backed Transitional government were able to exert control over territory outside of Mogadishu.

[hat tip: Jammie Wearing Fool]

Horn of Africa Update: Four Americans Murdered by Somali Pirates; 17 Killed in Mogadishu Truck Bombing

Somali pirates shot dead four American yachters while the commandeered vessel was being shadowed by the Destroyer USS Sterrett on Tuesday.

U.S. forces boarded the yacht Quest after one of the pirates fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Sterrett. The grenade missed, but gunfire erupted from inside the Quest. Several pirates appeared on the deck of the Quest ready to surrender. As the Navy SEALS boarded the yacht, they found two pirates dead from small arms fire and killed two more below decks in close quarters combat.

Below decks, the SEALS also found the bodies of Scott and Jean Adam of Laguna Beach, CA and Bob Riggle and Phyllis Mackay of Seattle, WA. The four Americans were airlifted to USS Enterprise where they were pronounced dead. The Navy also took 15 of the surviving pirates into custody at that point.

The yacht Quest was registered to the Adams, who had spent the past few years sailing the world and passing out bibles along remote seaside villages in Alaska, Central America, Fiji and Polynesia.

Reportedly this pirate attack was different from others in that the pirates boarded and seized the Quest directly from one of their 'mother ships' instead of sending out gunmen in small skiffs to seize the vessel. The four Americans were reportedly sailing off the coast of Oman when they were accosted by the pirates [As a side note, does anybody else find it somewhat disturbing that when this DOES get mentioned by the mainstream media, it's as though the bibles might've played a role in their death, not the dozen or so gun wielding Muslim men from the failed state who actually commandeered their ship and pulled the trigger? NANESB!].

As navies from various nations have stepped up patrols in international waters off the coast of Somalia, Somali-based pirates have pushed further and further eastward into the Indian ocean, striking vessels closer to the Indian Ocean island nations of the Seychelles or Maldives or even India than the Horn of Africa.

The massacre of the 4 Americans comes about a month after South Korean commandos successfully raided a tanker that had been seized by pirates and freed the crew who were being held hostage. In May 2010, Russian Naval commandos carried out a similar operation, freeing the crew of the MV Moscow University.

ELSEWHERE: A truck bomb detonated outside of a police training center in Mogadishu on Monday, killing at least 17 people. The Somali Islamist group Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

Guards shot at the vehicle as it sped towards them from a busy intersection near the port before it exploded, killing several pedestrians and destroying nearby homes. The police academy was located some 1600 feet from Mogadishu's busy port.

In response to the bombing, Somali troops backed by African Union peacekeepers fanned out through Mogadishu claiming to have captured three Al Shabaab bases on Wednesday.

Besides mounting an insurgency campaign against African Union peacekeepers presently in Somalia, Al Shabaab had also claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Ugandan capital of Kampala in July 2010.

HORN OF AFRICA UPDATE: South Korean Naval Commandos Kill 8 Pirates, Free Hostages; Private Military Contractors Training Private Anti-Pirate Forces?

South Korean sailors from the Cheonghae Naval Unit conducting an antipiracy drill in 2009- Militaryphotos.net

Six days after the MV Samho Jewelry was boarded and seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, South Korean commandos stormed the cargo ship, killing 8 pirates and rescuing the 21 member crew. Taking part in multinational anti-piracy patrols in the region, the destroyer Choi Young was dispatched by South Korea to intercept the hijacked vessel.

The Samho Jewelry was carrying chemicals from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka when the pirates attacked. A vessel from the same company shipping oil from Iraq to the USA- the Samho Dream- was hijacked by pirates last May and it's crew was released 217 days later only after a largest-of-its-kind ransom payment of US$9.5 million.

"Our special forces stormed the hijacked Samho Jewelry earlier today and freed all hostages," said Colonel Lee Bung-Woo, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"During the operation, our forces killed some Somali pirates and all of the hostages were confirmed alive," Lee told reporters on Friday. Another JSC spokesman said eight pirates were killed.

The military said Friday's rescue followed a brief gunbattle Tuesday, when the destroyer encountered pirates who had apparently left the South Korean freighter to try to seize a nearby Mongolian vessel.

The South Korean commandos aboard a speedboat and a Lynx helicopter were dispatched to rescue the Mongolian ship.

Tuesday's firefight left several pirates missing and believed killed although their bodies have not been found, spokesmen said. Three commandos were slightly hurt.

The rescue took place 800 miles off the northeastern coast of Somalia, according to the Joint Chiefs.

ELSEWHERE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA: Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater USA, is reportedly backing an effort by South African Private Military Contractors to train 2000 Somalis for a land-based private army that would protect officials from Somalia's fragile Transitional government as well as combat pirates and the al-Shabaab Islamic militia.

Prince reportedly brokered the deal between officials in the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern nations and South Africa's Saracen International to fill the security vacuum in the lawless region.

Presently an African Union peacekeeping force is propping up the internationally recognized Somali Transitional government that only controls parts of the capital city of Mogadishu. Last month, the AP reported that the Somalia project encompassed training a 1,000-man anti-piracy force in Somalia's northern semi-autonomous region of Puntland and presidential guards in Mogadishu, the ruined seaside capital. The story identified Saracen International, a private security company, as being involved, along with a former U.S. ambassador, Pierre Prosper; a senior ex-CIA officer, Michael Shanklin; and an unidentified Muslim donor nation. Prosper and Shanklin confirmed they were working as advisers to the Somali government.

Since then, AP has learned from officials and documents that Prince is involved and that a second 1,000-man anti-piracy force is planned for Mogadishu, where insurgents battle poorly equipped government forces.

This has some analysts fretting over what they call 'the privatization of war', which in a region that has been racked by famine, prolonged civil wars, lawlessness, piracy and terrorism for the last 20 years seems like a rather petty and abstract complaint.

I mean, really? Suddenly, employing some battle-hardened South Africans (or Brits, or Aussies, or Americans) with extensive military backgrounds to break the impasse and restore some sort of order is bad?

Worse than multiple civil wars dragging on for decades at a time that's killed millions?

Worse than multiple famines triggered by said civil wars and ethnic cleansing that's killed millions more?

Worse than rampant piracy that threatens to choke off the Red Sea to commercial maritime traffic to all nations?

Worse than yet another failed state playing host to yet another Islamic terror group that can operate with impunity?

I mean, it's not as though Saracen is usurping a Democratically elected government- there has essentially been no functioning central government in Somalia since 1991.

Food for thought.

PUNTLAND- The autonomous reigon of Puntland- where a number of pirate raids have been launched from- said it was breaking with Somalia's Transitional Federal Government 'until a legitimate Federal authority is in place in Mogadishu'.

The decision was made during a special cabinet meeting in the Puntland capital Garowe, said a government statement received by AFP in Nairobi.

It said the Mogadishu government "does not represent Puntland in international forums" and called on "the UN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) to reconsider its position and support for the TFG at the expense of other Somali stakeholders".

And it criticised "the lack of participation, consultation and representation of the Puntland Government during the 2008-2009 Djibouti Peace Process which led to the formation of the current Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia."

The statement also slammed "the marginalization of Puntland from the international community's initiatives and funding intended for the reconstruction and development of Somalia as a whole."

It said it "welcomes, supports and endorses the new U.S. Dual-Track Policy which is based on realities on the ground in Somalia" and called for a conference to speed up national reconciliation.

Unlike neighbouring Somaliland, Puntland, which was founded in 1998 by former transition president Abdullahi Yussuf Ahmed, did not secede from Somalia but has its own government bodies at Garowe.

While it's rumored that some government officials in Puntland take a cut of ransoms paid out to pirates, the Saracen project is reportedly using a pool of recruits from Puntland. Local reports also indicate that Saracen is aiding in the construction of a new Naval facility outside the coastal village of Bandar Siyada.

Photo- Guuleed

SOMALILAND- It could be that there's a country newer than South Sudan waiting in the wings. Somaliland declared its independence from the rest of Somalia during the 1991 Civil War and has managed to avoid the chaotic slide into lawlessness and anarchy that has characterized the rest of Somalia. It has managed to set up a functioning government and legals system, hold regularly scheduled elections and circulate its own currency- although for whatever reason the international community has been reluctant to recognize it as an independent state [I was actually made aware of Somaliland in the 1997 editon of Fielding's World's Most Dangerous Places; apparently Somaliland stood out because it wasn't as dengerous as the rest oF the country- NANESB!].

Surveys indicate that Somaliland holds considerable oil and mineral reserves, but because of it's unrecognized status, foreign companies are unable to extract those resources while Somaliland itself lacks the expertise on a local level to set up large scale drilling or mining operations. Presently, it's main source of income is exporting livestock, remittances from abroad and allowing Ethiopia to use the port of Berbera.

And they also view the rampant piracy in the region as one more problem that jeopardizes their bid for international recognition as a sovereign state. The de facto government in Somaliland has offered to put the port at Berbera at the disposal of the international navies that are patrolling the Red Sea and Indian Ocean as part of their stepped up campaign against Somali pirates as far back as 2008.

More recently, they have arrested and jailed pirates fleeing into Somaliland waters, handing out sentences of 15 years each. Last month, they arrested six Russian pilots violating territorial airspace and suspected of attempting to deliver military supplies to the Puntland reigon in defiance of a blanket arms embargo on all of Somalia (it is thought the supplies were destined for the Saracen project in Puntland). Puntland and Somaliland are involved in an ongoing border dispute as well. The Russians were released after being given a suspended sentence and fine at the end of December.

While far from perfect, this resilient and fairly orderly enclave along Somalia's northern coast could be what the international community needs to serve as a counterweight to the out of control piracy and al Shabaab militias that have taken over elsewhere in the Horn of Africa.

Uganda Plays Host to African Union Summit 2 Weeks After Bombings

Uganda's president called for stepped up efforts by African Union forces against Somalia's al-Shabaab militia during the AU summit in Kampala. The summit takes place less than two weeks after twin suicide bombings targeting an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby club in Uganda's capital killed 76 people, most of them gathered to watch the championship game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Investigators found an undetonated explosive vest in the trash outside a nightclub, indicating a there was an attempted attack on a third location in Kampala.

Somalia's so-backwards-it-would-be-comical-if-they-didn't-have-RPGs Al Shabaab militia claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in retaliation for Uganda's participation with the AU peacekeeping force stationed in Somalia.

The lone American fatality was identified by the State Department as 25 year old University of Delaware graduate Nate Henn, who was active in the Invisible Children project. The project documents the use of child soldiers forcibly conscripted by rebels in northern Uganda during the ongoing civil war there while raising money for schools and job-training programs.

Uganda Bombing Update- Death Toll Rises; Investigators Find Explosive Vest; Somali Al-Shabaab Islamists Claims Responsibility

Police in Uganda had discovered and vest laden with explosives and ball-bearings at a dance hall in the capital city of Kampala, leading them to believe a third venue was targeted unsuccessfully in Sunday's twin bombings. The ball bearings were consistent with shrapnel and debris investigators found at the scene of the rugby club and Ethiopian village blast sites.

They say the discovery of the unexploded suicide vest has led them to detain 4 people, although the inspector general of police Kale Kaihura declined to release their names or nationalities.

An Al Shabaab spokesman in Somalia claimed responsibility for the bombings. "We warned Uganda not to deploy troops to Somalia, they ignored us," said Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage [Wow- a literal Islamic Rage Boy- NANESB!] al-Shabab's spokesman. "We warned them to stop massacring our people, and they ignored that. The explosions in Kampala were only a minor message to them. ... We will target them everywhere if Uganda does not withdraw from our land."

The death toll from Sunday's attacks has been revised upwards to 76, including an American aid worker from Delaware. This would make it the deadliest terror attack on East Africa since the 1998 twin bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam.

Twin Blasts Rock Ugandan Capital During World Cup Final

At least 64 people are feared dead after two separate blasts ripped through the Ugandan capital city of Kampala on Sunday, including an Ethiopian restaurant packed with people watching the World Cup final. The second blast took place at a rugby club also in Kampala.

Police believe that the bombings were targeting foreigners and suspect they may have been orchestrated by Somalia's Islamic Al-Shabaab group.

Al-Shabaab seems none too enamored of soccer (or bras for that matter) so the timing of the attacks was probably by design on their part.

Ethiopia's military moved into Somalia at the end of 2006 and occupied the mostly lawless and chaotic country for more than two years. Uganda sent troops to Somalia in 2007 as part of a regional African Union Peacekeeping force and the current AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) commander is a Major General with the Ugandan Army.

Somali Man Shot By Danish Police Charged With Attempted Murder of 'Motoons' Cartoonist

(Ernst van Norde/AP)

A 28-year old Somali man was charged with attempted murder after breaking into the Aarhus home of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard with an axe and knife before being shot in the hand and knee by police on Friday night.

The head of Denmark's PET intelligence services says that the man charged in the attacks was an asylum-seeker who had ties to Somalia's Al-Shabaab militia. He was wheeled into a Aarhus courthouse on a stretcher and accompanied by his lawyer on Saturday.

Reports state that the would-be assailant broke in the glass on Westergaard's front door Friday, but the Jyllands-Posten cartoonist had time to grab his five year old granddaughter and lock themselves in a panic room. The intruder was still on the property and armed with the axe and knife when the police arrived and shot him after refusing to surrender.

(Jyllands Posten/Kurt Westergaard)

Westergaard is best known for the series of 'Mohammed cartoons' published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005 that subsequently sparked protests and rioting in several Islamic nations. [Why the same Muslims who saw it fit to torch buildings and go on a rampage in their own capitals most likely didn't say a peep when Muslims were slaughtering each other by the thousands in Algeria not too long ago, I'm not sure- NANESB!]. The cartoonist has received numerous death threats and Fatwas calling for his murder and until recently had round-the-clock protection from Danish security services.

'Grim Milestone': The Election of Barak Hussein Obama- 1 Year Later

Referring to the Obama Administration as a 'disappointment' would be terribly misleading on my part, since- to put it charitably- I didn't consider President Obama the most qualified man for the job in the first place.


To give the President credit, he had a hand some things that I agree wholeheartedly with; calling Kanye West a jackass, ventilating the pirates who tried hijacking the MV Maersk Alabama, Predator drones incinerating Taliban vermin in the hinterlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan whether the world's first failed nuclear state likes it or not, coordinated strikes against Al Qaeda operatives in the Horn of Africa....you know, mostly stuff that would probably require Executive-level approval somewhere along the line. Stuff that- most importantly- leads to the enemies of these United States of America dying an abrupt and violent death.

But it's rather telling that a year ago tonight, thugs and tyrants like Hugo Chavez and Robert Mugabe were hoping the US election would turn out exactly the way it did.

Then there's the issue of the leaders of Canada and France treating the issue of Iran's nuclear programme with more urgency than the White House. Keep in mind Iran's mullahs are the same people who set the basiij militia on the populace, arbitrarily beating, detaining and shooting Iran's civilians for all the world to see or follow on Twitter. Yet they can somehow be trusted with the raw materiel for a nuclear programme? Or better yet, these are the people who President Obama wants to negotiate in good faith with?

Domestically, the President has been enthusiastically championing some God-awful legislation such as Card Check, Cap & Trade, Obamacare (or the ill-defined, nebulous 'Healthcare reform' if you prefer) and the $787 Billion stimulus package. The stimulus was supposed to create jobs, repair or replace crumbling infrastructure and prevent the jobless rate from rising above 8% nationally. As of this afternoon, the National unemployment rate is just under 10% (9.8%). Cap and trade is guaranteed to make that jobless rate higher, increase the costs of energy and transportation for Americans and lower the standard of living in this country.

Let's not forget the whole matter in Cambridge, MA between Sgt. Crowley of the Cambridge PD and Harvard professor Henry Gates. During a Q&A press conference shortly after the incident, the president arranged for a question to be asked about Gates' arrest and release by the Cambridge Police. Even with a friendly press pool, the President still managed to screw the pooch when he said he wasn't aware of all the facts in the case, he was biased because Prof. Gates was an acquaintance of his but still decided right then and there that the Cambridge police (specifically Sgt. Crowley) 'acted stupidly'. As more information came out about the arresting officer and his credentials and Prof. Gates and his belligerence, Obama had to backpedal and ultimately staged a photo-op beer summit at the White House.

The incident was fairly minor in the grand scheme of things, but that's exactly my point. If the President got it wrong on a fairly minor matter that would hardly make the police blotter of a small-town newspaper, why exactly should I trust him on the bigger issues?

Then there's the matter of the war.....no- not Afghanistan, silly! Fox news, insurance companies, the US Chamber of commerce and....Edmunds.com- the publisher of the Blue Book used to assess used-car prices. If the White House isn't directing their time and energies towards thwarting these insidiously evil enemies of this great republic, then they're busy blaming the previous administration for the economy, Afghanistan, the present state of healthcare, housing, Iraq (which- like it or not- is logistically more tenable than Afghanistan) subprime lending, the auto industry or America's standing in the' world. At this rate, I hope President Obama keeps using the 'Failed policies of the last 8 years' mantra for his 2012 campaign. Sure, it's a little tiresome- but by that point in time, he'd be admitting that his first term- even with a filibuster-proof supermajority for at least the first 2 years- was a complete and utter failure. Having said that, this comes across as petty, incredibly shallow and thin-skinned on his part. Think about it- he campaigned on his willingness to sit down and negotiate with Iran's Mahmoud Ahmedinejahd, but his administration will have nothing to do with The Hartford?

Am I leaving anything out? The takeover of General Motors, AIG or Citibank maybe? That incredible clusterf*ck down in Honduras that's playing out pretty much how Hugo Chavez wants it to? The ill-fated Olympic bid? Releasing Gitmo inmates so they can be tried in the USA and have the same rights as a motorist pulled over by a state trooper for a broken taillight? His circle of questionable associates- many of whom have been appointed 'czars'?

I'm sure there's more I'm leaving out, but there are only so many hours in the day.

Islamic Militia Whip Women Wearing "Deceptive" Bras.

What is it about the failed state in the Horn of Africa that seem to produce bizarre news stories seemingly lifted straight from The Onion?

The latest madness from Mogadishu is the banning of movies, playing or watching soccer, musical ring tones, dancing at weddings and...oh yes, bras by the Islamist al Shabaab militia.

Residents said gunmen had been rounding up any woman seen with a firm bust and then had them publicly whipped by masked men. The women were then told to remove their bras and shake their breasts.

“Al shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts,” a resident, Halima, told Reuters, adding that her daughters had been whipped Thursday.

Let's see....misogynist Kalashnikov wielding thugs forcing women to remove their brassieres and shake their breasts at gunpoint after whipping them? What could possibly go wrong?

For a group that's supposedly so concerned about Islamic purity, they seem disporportionately interested in whipping and publicly humiliating Somalia's Muslim women.