Reuters on Monday noted that A.S.W. officials were meeting with TFG officials under the authority of Meles
A government official who wanted to remain anonymous told Reuters the pro-government Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca militia was meeting a government delegation in neighboring Addis Ababa.
"Currently the talks are continuing. We're discussing with Ahlu Sunna Waljamaca on how best we can accommodate them both politically and militarily. If it goes well at this first stage, then we will focus on uniting forces to face on war," he said.
The Christian Science Monitor, hardly an objective observer when it comes to Somalia, on Monday did its part to explain why the offensive was necessary
the Sharif government sees its current offensive as a chance to finally push back against the Al Shabab militia whose ties to Al Qaeda and use of suicide bombers make it an international menace. This might mean more hardship in the short term, experts on Somalia say, but it might mean more stability in the long term.
“Certainly in the short term, any concerted military offensive against Al Shabab is going to have humanitarian consequences, but the hope is that in the long term this can lead to a resolution of the conflict so that people can get on with their lives,” says E. J. Hogendoorn, director of the Horn of Africa Project at the International Crisis Group’s office in Nairobi. “This is a chance for the government to show the public, in places where they don’t control territory, that they can provide services and to show they are a functioning government.”
Shabelle Media: Al-shabab presents TFG officer, weapon in Mogadishu
Harakat Al-shabab mujahideen officials have Monday displayed an officer from the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and more weapons in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage (Sh. Ali Dere), the spokesman of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen who was present at Gulwadayasha building, the area where both the officier and weapon formally displayed today said that more than 50 soldier from the transitional government from their military positions joined them adding that they had welcomed them greatly and dealt with them with good manner.
The spokesman said the performed officer was called Bashi Ahmed who he said that he was member of the former national forces of Somali government in the [era] of ousted president Mohamed Siad Barre, but was current serving as transitional federal government officer in the capital.
He said that he was one of the troops in Na’na’a factory, a base for the transitional government of Somalia in south of Mogadishu.
Bashi Ahmed who also talked to the journalists said that he was trained in Djibouti adding that the authorities of the transitional government did not give any rights to its troops asserting that he decided to leave his colleague and joined to Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen.
Sheik Ali Mohamuded Rage said that Mr. Ahmed understood more about the decisive actions of the TFG calling for the others soldiers to leave from the government and join them pointing out that the government and AMISOM were those who often plan to deceive the Somalia people.
The officials also displayed 50 AK-47, mostly automatic hand guns used saying that 50 other government troops from the transitional government with the weapon had joined the Islamist fighters of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen urging the fighters to redouble their fighting against the allied troops of the government and AMSIOM stressing that they would once be out of the country.
Expect more troops that were trained outside of Somalia to switch sides in the coming weeks.
-- -- --
More signs of problems w/ the Djibouti-trained forces
Shabelle Media: Bitter confrontation kills 4 soldiers in Mogadishu
At least 4 government soldiers have been killed and three others wounded in Mogadishu after better confrontation between the transitional government troops happened in parts of Hamar-jajab district in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Wednesday.
One of the residents around the areas confirmed to Shabelle radio that the fighting was between the military forces of the TFG and broke out as the police forces took a rifle from the military troops which caused more military forces to reach at the scene and dispute and start gun [fight] at Hamar-jajab district in the capital.
...
The troops were reportedly those who were trained in Djibouti recently and brought back to the country to be part of the government soldiers.
Reuters gives a higher casualty figure
a gunbattle after an argument between police and soldiers at the Mogadishu police academy killed eight people. Witnesses said at least one civilian also died in the crossfire.
Meanwhile, as the same Reuter's article relates
Hardline Islamist insurgents fired mortar shells at the Villa Somalia presidential palace, prompting African Union (AU) guards to respond with a deafening barrage of artillery. At least 16 people died in the bombardment, medical officials said.
...
"The death toll may rise because we have not yet reached some of the districts where shells also landed," Ali Muse, coordinator of the city's ambulance service, told Reuters.
A nurse at Medina Hospital said at least 40 wounded people had been rushed there, five of whom died of their injuries.
Shabelle Media reported that
Most of the mortars were landed on Wadnaha street that passes beside Bakara, the biggest market in the capital and halted the movement of the business in the market according to witnesses and businessmen adding that more shells hit into the market killing 7 people and injuring 8 others as the shelling continued.
One witnesses told Shabelle radio that a mortar had landed on traffic civilian at the bus station of Bakara market killing one woman adding that it had destroyed whole the vehicle.
“three people were killed at General Da’ud intersection in Mogadishu as mortar shell landed there, others were injured,” said one witnesses.
More other areas in Mogadishu as Hodan, Hawl-wadag, Wardigley, Heliwa, Yaqshid, and several other districts in the capital thought the real casualties of those areas are unclear so far.
-- -- --
UPI: Shaky Somali government talks big push
The shaky Western-backed Transitional Federal Government, barely able to control a few blocks of the capital, appears to be bracing for a three-pronged military offensive against Islamist militants aligned with al-Qaida.
...
According to diplomatic sources in Mogadishu, the government envisages a push involving some 3,700 Somalis trained in neighboring Kenya, the Ahlu Sunnah Wal-jammah militia and TFG forces supported by some 4,500 troops, mainly from Burundi and Uganda, of the African Union peacekeeping force known as Amisom.
The Kenya-trained force would move northeastward from the southern border, the militia from the west while the forces deployed in Mogadishu on the Indian Ocean seaboard would seek to consolidate control of the area around the war-battered capital.
...
If the TFG offensive does take place, al-Shebab's main force of some 3,000 would be pinioned between the forces moving out of Kenya and the Ahlu Sunnah Wal-jammah, cutting off the Islamists' link to Mogadishu.
...
On Monday there were further signs of mobilization by the pro-TFG forces when media reports said the government was engaged in talks with the Ahlu Sunnah Wal-jammah in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
Ethiopia, backed by the United States, is the TFG's main ally in the region. Ethiopian forces invaded in December 2006 to overthrow a short-lived Islamist regime and recapture Mogadishu.
Addis Ababa withdrew that force in early 2009. But Ethiopia, a largely Christian state that is bitterly opposed to having an Islamist regime in Mogadishu, has continued to prop up the TFG headed by President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.
Addis Ababa also backs the Sufi-inspired Ahlu Sunnah Wal-jammah and has backed up the militia several times in its local wars with rival clans.
The Ethiopians are reported to have concluded an agreement with its leader, Sheik Mahmoud Hassan Farah, in Addis Ababa Dec. 13 to install an autonomous administration in central Somalia with him at its head.
How this fits in with Addis Ababa's strategy regarding the TFG is not clear but may become so in the days ahead.
The clan and militia alliances are constantly shifting, as they have done amid the chaos and lawlessness that has swept Somalia since it fell apart in 1991 when the dictator Siad Barre was toppled by warlords.
But it seems that much will depend on the coming days, if the TFG offensive actually materializes, on the Ahlu Sunnah Wal-Jammah continuing to support Sheik Ahmed's fragile administration.
The militia, backed by Ethiopian gold, doubtless provided by the United States, has clearly become a pivotal factor in the seesawing conflict swirling across Somalia.
-- -- --
On Tuesday, from Addis Ababa
VOA: AFRICOM Chief Offers Support to AU Security Goals
The United States military command for Africa, known as AFRICOM, is offering enhanced support for African Union peace and security initiatives. The commander, General William Ward, ... met Tuesday with African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra for talks on continental hot spots, including Sudan and Somalia. The meeting came as Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, backed by the AU peacekeeping force AMISOM, is preparing an offensive against rebel forces that control much of the country.
But speaking to VOA, General Ward emphasized AFRICOM's role in Somalia is strictly limited to indirect support for the U.N.-backed government.
"We certainly support those who are in fact supportive of the Transitional Federal Government, the African Union, AMISOM missions. We do things in support of those attempts to bring about stability. Insofar as any direct involvement in Somalia, that's not the role of my command," he said.
The U.S. Africa command is perceived in some quarters as a fighting force involved in one way or another in Somalia and other African conflict zones. But General Ward says categorically, AFRICOM has no combat role.
"There are things I'm aware of, things my command is not responsible for. Our activities on the continent, in Somalia, are widespread, and so there are probably things that occur that may be publicly perceived as done by the United States Africa command, but that's just not the case," he said.
What does Ward, or the VOA editor, think he just said? Doesn't matter anyway... As VOA already knows when they fail to explain what was meant by their reference to "enhanced support".
From a Wednesday Garowe Online report on the shellings around the city
The clashes came after rebels launched attacks on government/AU base in the capital, resulting shelling and bombardment that targeted residential areas in northern Mogadishu.
“Several mortars landed at the neighbourhood, killing at least 7 people, all of them civilians,” said a resident of Mogadishu’s Huriwa district.
The capital’s Bakara market, a stronghold for Al-Shabaab militants, witnessed worst of shelling with over 10 people reportedly killed.
“Two buses that ply route near the market came under attack. More than ten people have died while several others wounded,” said Rahma Ali, who was also injured in the mortar shelling.
The clashes come as hundreds of Al-Shabaab fighters have been pouring into Mogadishu, from the country’s southern regions as the government prepares for an offensive against them.
Residents have reported seeing several armored vehicles full of al-Shabaab forces armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 rifles streaming into Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab fighters aged under 20 and armed with AK-47s have been deployed in Bakara market,” a trader in the market told Garowe Online.
SMC: A new Battalion of Al-Shabab reaches Mogadishu
A new battalion of Al-Shabab has reached the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday evening after having successfully accomplished their training in one of their training camps in Somalia as the spokesman of Al-Shabab has told the media in a press conference on Wednesday.
“The arrival of this battalion known as Khalid Bin Walid who has recently accomplished their military training is to boost and partake the fighting against the infidels and their followers who have invaded in our country” said Sheikh Ali Dere the spokesman of Al-Shabab.
From a Thursday Shabelle Media article, Death toll of yesterday’s shelling rises 30, 50 injuries, people flee from Mogadishu
death toll of yesterday’s deadly shelling has risen to 30 and the injuries of more than 50 others, just as the remained residents started fleeing from their houses in Mogadishu, witnesses and officials told Shabelle radio on Thursday.
Heavy shelling that started on Wednesday afternoon and continued until overnight and targeted to more different areas in the Somali capital Mogadishu has caused more civilian casualties of deaths, injuries and loss of properties.
The bodies several people were found on Thursday morning in parts of Hodan and Hamarweyne districts in the capital
Ali Muse, the official of the emergency responders told Shabelle radio that they took more wounded people since the shelling begin yesterday afternoon saying that they had seen the bodies more people in the areas they were collecting the wounded people.
He said most of the dead or wounded people were civilians.
He expressed concern about the big Lorries which often blockade the streets as they carry the injuries calling for them to open the way soon as possible when they heard the sound of the ambulances.
The African Union troops AMISOM were accused the responsibility of yesterday’s bombardment, but the spokesman of AMSOM troops in Mogadishu Maj. Brigye Bahuko had denied that their forces targeted to Bakara market or the other districts in Mogadishu.
Shabelle Media Network had visited to all main hospital in the capital like: Kesaney, Daynile and Medina and covered all those hospitals could be seen the people who were wounded in shelling.
Health officials of Medina hospital told Shabelle radio that more than 50 wounded civilians were rushed to the hospital in south of Mogadishu.
Followed by
Shabelle Media: Hospital official: ‘67 injuries were rushed to Medina with in the over 24 hours’
Drs. Duniyo Ali Mohamud, health secretary of Medina, the main hospital in south of the Somali capital Mogadishu has held press conference in the hospital and said that more than 60 injured civilians were rushed to the hospital in over the past 24 hours in the capital.
Drs Dunia said in the press conference that three people died in the hospital during the treatment adding that 4 other dead bodies were brought in the hospital as the heavy shelling continued in the capital yesterday afternoon until overnight.
“19 of the wounded civilians were returned back to their houses as they were simply treated in the hospital. They had not had hard wounds and we have achieved to cure them simply, we expect the others to be so,” said Dunia Ali.
Drs. Duria said that number of wounded people in the hospital were 130 those most of them wounded in the latest clashes and mortar shells continued in the Mogadishu.
One of the parents whose brother was injured in yesterday’s deadly bombing told Shabelle radio that a mortar landed at around the second street of Bakara market killed a civilian wounding 9 others.
On Friday,
Shabelle Media: Heavy fighting kills 5, wounds more than 10 in north Mogadishu
at least 5 people have been killed and more than 10 others wounded in a heavy fighting between the transitional government troops and Islamist fighters that broke out in north of the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses told Shabelle radio on Friday.
...
Residents confirmed that the clash started at parts of Yaqshid, Bondere and Shibis districts in north of the capital on Friday morning adding that both sides are currently exchanging heavy gunfire.
Witnesses told Shabelle radio that several mortar shells landed at around Towfiq hotel in Yakshid district and killed 5 people, injuring 8 others there adding that the sound of the gunfire and shelling could be heard around the war zones.
“Yes, the fighting has flared up just in Yaqshid district; I can hear the bullets. It is bitterly continuing. I Saw 5 dead bodies and 8 others,” said one witnesses
It is unclear whether it is the start big offensive that the transitional government announced recently that it would attack the military positions under the control of the Islamist fighters in Mogadishu.
Also on Friday,
Xinhua: Islamist leader says group ready for gov't attack
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, leader of the radical Islamist group of Hezbul Islam in Somalia, on Friday stated his group's readiness for a possible major government offensive on rebels in Mogadishu.
Aweys was speaking at a rally by hundreds of his group's supporters on the outskirts of Mogadishu, where thousands of the capital's residents live in camps for the internally displaced people.
"We tell you (the Somali government) that we are ready for a fight and that we will defend our country, people and religion if you move to massacre our people," Aweys told jubilant supporters of his group who carried banners and placards with anti-government slogans.
...
The Islamist leader, wanted by the U.S. of links to terrorism, also strongly denounced Washington's policy towards Somalia saying it was "hostile" to the people of Somalia.
Aweys condemned the decision by the Djibouti government to send nearly 450 soldiers to be part of the UN authorized African Union peacekeeping Mission known as AMISOM.
And,
Shabelle Media: Al-shabab declares war against AMISOM and TFG troops
Sheik Moktar Robow Ali (Abu Mansour), high profile official of Harakat Al-shabab mujahideen has Friday declared war against the African Union troops (AMISOM) and transitional government troops in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Speaking to hundreds of supporters of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen in Nasrudin mosque in the capital, Abu Mansour called for the people to fighting with the allied troops of AMISOM and government troops.
“We are urging for all the Islamist representatives, fighters to fight with the AMISOM and TFG soldiers together. They are only in small areas in the country. We should attack the positions those troops together,” said Sheik Abu Mansour.
The official had accused to the AMISOM and government soldiers for bombing several civilian areas in the capital like: Suqa-holaha, Sinay and Bakara market in Mogadishu expressing surprise about denying the shelling that they often target to the civilian populated areas and also the attacks and explosions they are targted.
Garowe Online adds
Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur told hundreds of supporters gathered after Friday prayers in Nasrul-din mosque...
“We have prepared our Mujahidiins for this war and we are urging you to join us in this religious undertaking because it’s your religious responsibility, are you ready?” he asked the crowd who replied with ‘Yes’.
Time to throw in a most relevant observation from a commentary up at Hiiraan Online
Regardless of what the world media says, the Islamic coalition (Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahideen and Hizbul Islam) have grassroots support. I ask the reader, how is it that the Islamic coalition is able to control and govern their regions, while the warlords were not able to do so for fifteen years? It is not as if the Islamic coalition has higher tech weapons than the warlords, nor do they have more money (lest we forget the CIA giving the warlords 100,000 USD per week).
I will admit that the majority of Somalis in the Western world do not support the Islamic coalition, but we only speak for the Western Somalis, not the local native Somalis. We can say what we like while we live in a land of luxury, electricity, refrigeration, sewerage, excessive food, etc. But logically speaking, the Islamic coalition would not be able to do, what the warlords could not do, without the genuine support of the local native Somalis.
Elsewhere, on Friday
Shabelle Media: ‘We have completely prepared our troops to attack regions in south’ TFG official
Mohamed Abdi Kalil, a deputy governor of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) of Gedo region has Friday said that they had completely prepared their forces to attack some regions in southern Somalia.
More government troops trained in the Somali region under the control of Ethiopian and with Ethiopian and Somali officers were reportedly reached at El-berde village in Gedio region recently.
The deputy governor who is currently the acting chief of the region Mr. Kalil said in an interview with Shabelle radio that their preparations was concluded talking more about their military movement in the region recently adding that their main aim was to seize several provinces in southern Somalia.
The officials of the transitional government said that their troops were continuing military governments in parts of the region stressing that they had close relations with neighboring countries.
“We welcome and welcome any troops or anyone against those where against the transitional government. We also have good collaboration with the Islamist clerics of Ahlu Sunna Waljama,” said Mr. Kalil
“Our troops are working as national troops, but do not for other goals,” he added.
Xinhua: EU to start training of 2,000 Somali troops in Uganda in May
The European Union (EU) will start the training of 2,000 Somali troops in Uganda in May, a senior French army official said here on Friday.
Brigadier General Thierry Caspar-Fille-Lambie, the commanding officer of the French Forces based in Djibouti said the Somali troops will be trained with the necessary military skills to help pacify and stabilize the volatile country.
The Somali troops will be trained for six months in Bihanga in western Uganda.
"As France was one of the countries stressing the need for the involvement of EU in training Somalia forces, around 30 French trainers shall be part of that mission," said Lambie at the closing ceremony of four-week French operational training of 1,700 Ugandan troops to be deployed in the lawless country in May for peacekeeping mission.
During the course, a 1,700-men battalion of Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) to be deployed in Somalia underwent training in peacekeeping operations while 120 non-commissioned officers trained in commanding the force.
"The EU troops shall work in close collaboration with UPDF to train the Somali troops," said Rene Forceville, the French Ambassador to Uganda.
Lt. Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, the commander of Uganda Land Forces said the best way to help pacify the Horn of Africa country is by training and equipping their troops.
"We together with EU troops shall train them with the necessary skills to manage their own security," said Wamala.
The EU earlier this month agreed to set up a military mission in Uganda aimed at training up to 2,000 Somali troops, which will complement other training missions and bring the total number of better- trained Somali soldiers to 6,000.
The mission led by Spain will closely coordinate with the African Union, the U.S. and the United Nations as well as with Somalia's transitional government.
On Saturday, the BBC reported
Thousands of people have fled Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, since Wednesday, the UN refugee agency has said.
"Since the beginning of February, over 8,000 people have left the city to escape the fighting," spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
...
Despite reports of violent clashes between government troops and the Islamist group al-Shabab, the UN Special Representative for Somalia congratulated the transitional government on its work over the past 12 months and urged it to continue its efforts to restore peace and stability to the country.
"Unfortunately, they have had to spend time and resources trying to stop the violent attacks by extremists who oppose all their attempts to bring normality back to the country," said Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.
"Many people recognize that Somalia is moving from being a failed state in conflict to a fragile state with major development and reconstruction needs," he added.
Again, knowingly teling outright lies to the media, expressing a most disgusting contempt for people in Somalia, and doing the former to provide cover for the crimes in the latter. Way to go, Ould-Abdallah... (you) P.O.S.
More from Saturday,
Shabelle Media: Lawmaker abandons membership of Somali MPs in Mogadishu
Salah Noh Mohamed better known as (Salah badbado), has Saturday held press conference in Mogadishu and formally confirmed that he abandoned his membership of the transitional parliamentarians of Somalia, just days after he disappeared in his hotel in the areas under the control of the TFG in the capital.
The lawmaker held the press conference in Bakaro, the biggest market in the Somali capital Mogadishu which is under the control of Islamist fighters saying that he decided to split from the transitional legislators as they failed to conduct the Sharia law.
He said that both the transitional government soldiers and AMISOM commit intimidations to the Somali people in the areas they control reiterating that he had officially left his colleagues.
“Begin from today, I am confirming that I am not one of them. The reason is because we could not keep saving to those who searched security for us. As I was in my house at KM4, the AU troops were committing brutal actions to the Somali people. Those who are saying are troops were collected thieves and those who were trained in unknown countries and learn unwell conducts. They commit threats to the people,” said Salah Badbado
The MP did not explain more directly to which organization he joined saying that the reason he arrived to the side under the control of the Islamist forces was for the love of the religion and sharia law.
He accused the African Union troops (AMISOM) mainly the spokesman major Brigye Bahuko whom he blamed for denying the shelling and bombardment that the AU troops often target to the civilians in the capital.
“I heard two up to three times from the African liar, who has the blood of the Somali people, denying the shelling when he is asked questions by the journalists. He often laughs when denying the casualties of the civilians, so I am submitting to that man to respond the casualties of the Somali people,” said the MP.
The lawmaker is the first member of the Somali parliament that resigns his membership of the government officials and cross to the side of the Islamist fighters against the TFG and AMISOM in Mogadishu.
Pana: Burundi AMISOM contingent plays down Islamists' threat
The Burundian contingent of the African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) will stay in Mogadishu despite serious threats made by the Al Shabab Somali Islamists insurgents against any foreign military p resence in the country, the National Defence Force spokesman (NDS), Colonel Gaspard Baratutuza, said on Wednesday.
Colonel Gaspard Baratutuza was speaking on the national radio after the defection of about 60 Somali soldiers who joined the ranks of the Islamists opposed to the government in place in Mogadishu and its foreign military supporters.
"We are used to the defection of Somali soldiers, and this is unlikely to undermine the morale of our troops in Mogadishu,' the spokesman said.
Garowe Online: Ahlu Sunnah and Somali government hold talks in Addis Ababa
Officials from Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a (ASWJ) are meeting in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in preliminary talks on how best to integrate their forces and face their common enemy, Al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam.
The government side is led by Finance Minister Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, Postal and communication minister Abdirisaq Osman Hassan (Jurille) and political advisor to the president lawmaker Mustaf Ahmed Dhuxulow (Dhegdher).
While the delegation from Ahlu Sunnah side is led by a top official called Ma’alin Mahammud Sheikh Hasan.
This meeting, which was going on for about one week now, is organized and hosted by the Ethiopian government, which wants to unite this two faction in a bid to front a powerful alliance that will bring down Al-Qaeda-inspired Al-Shabaab.
However, early signs of the talks have put the government in awkward position as Ahlu Sunnah refuses to officially join it side but pledged support in fighting the militants.
The biggest nightmare for Sheikh Sharif government, according to diplomatic sources, is Ahlu Sunnah’s supremacy once the other Islamist groups are eliminated out of the political scene.
The group, which allegedly gets support from Addis Ababa, controls large swathes of central Somalia and is gripping power in strategic areas around the Hirran and Galgadud.
The meeting comes as the leader of Hizbul Islam, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys vows to continue with the fight against the fragile UN-backed government and its backers.
Speaking to hundreds of displaced residents in the outskirts of Mogadishu, Sheikh Aweys said his group is preparing for holy war against the enemy.
“We will carry out Jihad against the enemy and its backers to free our country,” he said.
He warned Islamists in the country against division, arguing that Ethiopia and the US is keen on plunging the militants into disarray to accomplish their efforts to bar the realization of an Islamic state in Somalia.
“America and Ethiopia don’t want an Islamic state in Somalia, and that is what we are opposed to. People must prepare for war against the government and Ahlu Sunnah, which serve the enemy,”
He said the enemy is using Ahlu Sunnah to divide the Islamists groups in the war-torn country.
“Ahlu Sunnah is a good Islamic name, but it is formed by Americans and other countries to divide the Islamists in the country,”
Garowe Online: 4 Al Shabaab fighters killed in Bakara blast
At least four Somali Al-Shabaab fighters have been killed and over 10 others injured in an explosion that rocked their base in restive capital Mogadishu.
The explosion, which is still unclear its cause, happened inside a health centre in the Bakara Market, an Al-Shabaab’s stronghold, where top officials of the group, including Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansur and others were meeting.
“A big explosion rocked the helath centre yesterday night. It caused death and destructions,” a trader who requested anonymity.
Close sources said Abu Mansur escaped unhurt but some Al-Shabaab fighters, who were admitted in the centre, were not lucky.
The explosion come a day after Abu Mansur declared Jihad agsint the UN-backed government and AU forces in the capital Mogadishu.
Keeping w/ the theme of liars, as well as keeping in mind AFRICOM's Kip Ward in his thoughts quoted earlier, here's is something touched on in a post here a number of months ago
Washington Post: Under Obama, more targeted killings than captures in counterterrorism efforts
When a window of opportunity opened to strike the leader of al-Qaeda in East Africa last September, U.S. Special Operations forces prepared several options. They could obliterate his vehicle with an airstrike as he drove through southern Somalia. Or they could fire from helicopters that could land at the scene to confirm the kill. Or they could try to take him alive.
The White House authorized the second option. On the morning of Sept. 14, helicopters flying from a U.S. ship off the Somali coast blew up a car carrying Saleh Ali Nabhan. While several hovered overhead, one set down long enough for troops to scoop up enough of the remains for DNA verification. Moments later, the helicopters were headed back to the ship.
The strike was considered a major success, according to senior administration and military officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the classified operation and other sensitive matters. But the opportunity to interrogate one of the most wanted U.S. terrorism targets was gone forever.
The Nabhan decision was one of a number of similar choices the administration has faced over the past year as President Obama has escalated U.S. attacks on the leadership of al-Qaeda and its allies around the globe. The result has been dozens of targeted killings and no reports of high-value detentions.
Although senior administration officials say that no policy determination has been made to emphasize kills over captures, several factors appear to have tipped the balance in that direction. The Obama administration has authorized such attacks more frequently than the George W. Bush administration did in its final years, including in countries where U.S. ground operations are officially unwelcome or especially dangerous. Improvements in electronic surveillance and precision targeting have made killing from a distance much more of a sure thing. At the same time, options for where to keep U.S. captives have dwindled.
...
Nabhan, a 30-year-old Kenyan, had long been a prime U.S. target. A senior official in the al-Shabab militia fighting to overthrow the U.S.-supported transition government in Somalia and impose strict Islamic law, he was said to be the chief link between the main al-Qaeda organization and its East African allies. Wanted by the FBI in connection with the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, he was also accused in the 2002 bombing of an Israeli-owned resort in Kenya and an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner that year.
After tracking him for a while, the Special Operations Command thought it had established a sufficient pattern of activity to target him and had the time to plan for it. Several alternatives, including capture, were developed and assessed under military procedures for missions outside recognized war theaters.
Planners were asked for more details on the proposed force to be used, intelligence proving the target's location and the level of verification, and operational details -- including, in the case of capture, where Nabhan would be taken. Planned under U.S. Central Command, the operation was turned over to the U.S. Africa Command for implementation.
On the political side, the National Security Council received detailed versions of each proposed course of action. At that level, the senior administration official said, "there is an evaluation making sure you are able to prosecute the mission successfully . . . and minimize the dangers and risks."
The Somalia calculus, several officials said, included weighing the likelihood that U.S. troops on the ground for any amount of time in the militia-controlled south would be particularly vulnerable to attack. Looming large, they said, was the memory of the last time a U.S. combat helicopter was on the ground in lawless Somalia, the 1993 Black Hawk debacle that resulted in the deaths of 18 soldiers. [What? Not even a mention of the estimated 10,000 or more Somalis killed by the wanna-be humanitarians?]
"There are certain upsides and certain downsides to certain paths," the administration official said. "The safety and security of U.S. military personnel is always something the president keeps at the highest level of his calculus."
On Sunday,
New Vision: Over 120 police officers leave for Somalia
ABOUT 124 Uganda Police personnel have been deployed to train Somali police under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The first batch of personnel left yesterday for Nairobi where they will undergo a short orientation course before they head to Mogadishu.
...
The deployment followed the arrival of a team of officials from the AMISOM which last year camped in Kampala and interviewed several Police.
...
This will be the first Police team to serve in Somalia under the union.
Sources revealed that other countries like Nigeria had also sent personnel for training.
New Vision: Over 1,700 UPDF soldiers for Somalia
A TOTAL of 1,750 Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) soldiers have been passed out for the peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
The event was presided over by the commander of the lands forces, Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala, at Singo training camp in Nakaseke district on Friday.
The soldiers underwent a one-month training in cordon-and-search, convoy escort, checkpoint monitoring, short-range shooting and self-defence.
They also obtained skills in landmine detection, first aid, vehicle maintenance, media management and building relationships with civilians.
The training was conducted by 37 Belgian and French army instructors.
Katumba thanked the Belgian and French governments for supporting peacekeeping missions in Africa. “The skills will be put to good use when our soldiers are in Mogadishu,” he said.
Present were French ambassador Rene Forceville, commander of the French forces based in Djibouti, Brig. Gen. Thierry Casper Fille-Lambie, and the Belgium defence attaché, Lt. Col. Pol Ameye.
Daily Monitor: Uganda to send fresh troops to Somalia
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces is sending a fresh contingent of peacekeepers to the war-ravaged Somalia to relieve some 1,760 peacekeepers whose duty has come to an end.
The new contingent is classified as Uganda Battle Group 5 (Ugabag5).
The army will also send 1,750 officers in May to Mogadishu to relieve a Ugandan contingent that has been operating there.
In an interview with the commanding officer of the French forces based in Djibouti, Air Brigadier General Thierry Caspar-Fille-Lambie, said the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) have agreed to establish a 6,000 force for Somalia’s national army.
A separate team of 10 senior Police officers has been dispatched to Nairobi where they will base to train Somalia’s Police. The officers were led by Assistant Commissioner, Joram Baryayanga and Mr Simeo Nsubuga who has been head of security at Kyambogo University.
The Director of Interpol and Peace Support Operations, Mr Fredrick Kiyaga confirmed the sending of the officers in Nairobi. “There is a contingent that was approved to leave for Nairobi under the African Union Mission but I can’t ascertain whether they have gone since I am not in office,” Mr Kiyaga, said yesterday.
They are part of the 35 officers from different African countries that arrived in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday where they are to train Somalia Police, Police confirmed. This is the first time the force is training Somalia Police outside Uganda.
About 100 Uganda Police officers are expected to carry out the training in Nairobi.
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