Alshahid – 13 September 2010
An American national allegedly connected Al-Qaeda linked terror group has been killed in Somalia according to intelligence sources. The fighter, a Somali-American man known as Dahir Gurey Sheikh Ali Guled, was found dead in Mogadishu after a street battle between the militant group Al-Shabaab, and pro-government forces.
A US official told ABC News that Gurey was believed to be an American citizen who arrived in Somalia earlier this year, but cautioned that the US government has not independently confirmed Mr. Gurey’s death or nationality. Somali officials said the
man had documents on him that indicated he was American.
Showing posts with label somali american jihadi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label somali american jihadi. Show all posts
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
SOMALIS GOING FOR CIVIL WAR NOT JIHAD?!
*** The civil war IS between Islamist groups - Muslim killing Muslims, it's what we do best. MS ***
FROM: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/nyregion/07shabaab.html
WASHINGTON — The Islamic extremist group in Somalia that two New Jersey men were seeking to join when they were arrested in New York on Saturday has recruited several hundred foreign fighters to help wage an intensifying civil war in a destitute East African country, American officials said on Sunday.
Related
But interest in the movement, Al Shabab, among American recruits appeared to have waned in recent years as news spread in Somali communities in Minneapolis and other cities that some of the recruits had been killed.
“Since the 2007-2008 period, when foreign fighters were flowing in, you haven’t heard about too many other Americans going there,” said Andre Le Sage, a senior research fellow who specializes in Africa at the National Defense University in Washington.
About 20 Americans have joined Al Shabab, and at least half a dozen have been killed in fighting in Somalia, according to their friends and relatives. Law enforcement officials fear that the recruits, often young men in their 20s who hold American passports, could be tapped to return to the United States to carry out attacks here, though so far there is no evidence of any such plot.
The arrests Saturday were the latest in a growing number of radicalized Americans who have been charged with terrorism-related offenses. They include Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen accused in the failed car bombing in Times Square last month.
“We have seen an increasing number of individuals here in the United States become captivated by extremist ideologies or causes,” John O. Brennan, President Obama’s counterterrorism chief, said last month.
American counterterrorism officials have been putting more focus on safe havens in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia functioning as militant incubators. The United States has observed many ad hoc training camps in southern Somalia, intelligence officials said.
For several years, an intense civil war has raged in Somalia between a weak American-backed government and radical Islamist groups that are trying to overthrow it.
The insurgents include fighters from Al Shabab, which has sent hundreds of young recruits to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and a rival group, Hizbul Islam.
The two groups used to be close, and their hard-line Islamist ideologies, which called for amputations and public stonings for violations of Islamic law, were virtually identical. American and Somali security officials said that the leaders of both groups have worked closely with wanted terrorists of Al Qaeda in Yemen and Pakistan. Yet in the past few months, as the government geared up for a major offensive, the two groups openly clashed with each other. And in recent days there have been reports that dozens of civilians have been wounded in areas held by insurgents and areas held by the government.
Moreover, the insurgents’ harsh rules prohibiting music, television and even bras, as well as the unrelenting fighting, have steadily alienated much of Somali society, making it harder for the militants to raise money and find recruits.
That did not seem to deter the two suspects arrested Saturday, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, who, according to the criminal complaint, discussed which of the rival groups to join. “Shabab is the main one,” Mr. Almonte told Mr. Alessa and an unidentified federal informer. “The main thing.”
Mr. Le Sage said that Al Shabab relied on mobilizing several thousand militia fighters from Somali clans, but that the foreigners could play important roles as commandos, intelligence agents or suicide bombers.
While Al Shabab have threatened to attack East African neighbors as well as Australia, the United States and Scandinavian countries, Mr. Le Sage said the organization had not yet carried out any strikes outside of Somalia. “That’s always a cause for concern,” he added.
The two suspects may have been misled in thinking that they were going to kill Americans in Somalia; there are actually very few in that country.
After 1993, when American forces were humiliated by clan militiamen in the episode that has come to be called Black Hawk Down, the United States has shown little appetite to send conventional forces back into Somalia.
But Al Shabab have been telling followers, for propaganda purposes, that the United States might get involved again.
There are American contractors working in Somalia managing logistics for the African Union peacekeepers there. Somali officials have also said that American intelligence agents frequently visit Somalia in an effort to improve the capacity of Somalia’s fledgling security services.
Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting from Nairobi, Kenya.
FROM: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/nyregion/07shabaab.html
WASHINGTON — The Islamic extremist group in Somalia that two New Jersey men were seeking to join when they were arrested in New York on Saturday has recruited several hundred foreign fighters to help wage an intensifying civil war in a destitute East African country, American officials said on Sunday.
Related
But interest in the movement, Al Shabab, among American recruits appeared to have waned in recent years as news spread in Somali communities in Minneapolis and other cities that some of the recruits had been killed.
“Since the 2007-2008 period, when foreign fighters were flowing in, you haven’t heard about too many other Americans going there,” said Andre Le Sage, a senior research fellow who specializes in Africa at the National Defense University in Washington.
About 20 Americans have joined Al Shabab, and at least half a dozen have been killed in fighting in Somalia, according to their friends and relatives. Law enforcement officials fear that the recruits, often young men in their 20s who hold American passports, could be tapped to return to the United States to carry out attacks here, though so far there is no evidence of any such plot.
The arrests Saturday were the latest in a growing number of radicalized Americans who have been charged with terrorism-related offenses. They include Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen accused in the failed car bombing in Times Square last month.
“We have seen an increasing number of individuals here in the United States become captivated by extremist ideologies or causes,” John O. Brennan, President Obama’s counterterrorism chief, said last month.
American counterterrorism officials have been putting more focus on safe havens in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia functioning as militant incubators. The United States has observed many ad hoc training camps in southern Somalia, intelligence officials said.
For several years, an intense civil war has raged in Somalia between a weak American-backed government and radical Islamist groups that are trying to overthrow it.
The insurgents include fighters from Al Shabab, which has sent hundreds of young recruits to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and a rival group, Hizbul Islam.
The two groups used to be close, and their hard-line Islamist ideologies, which called for amputations and public stonings for violations of Islamic law, were virtually identical. American and Somali security officials said that the leaders of both groups have worked closely with wanted terrorists of Al Qaeda in Yemen and Pakistan. Yet in the past few months, as the government geared up for a major offensive, the two groups openly clashed with each other. And in recent days there have been reports that dozens of civilians have been wounded in areas held by insurgents and areas held by the government.
Moreover, the insurgents’ harsh rules prohibiting music, television and even bras, as well as the unrelenting fighting, have steadily alienated much of Somali society, making it harder for the militants to raise money and find recruits.
That did not seem to deter the two suspects arrested Saturday, Mohamed Mahmood Alessa, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, who, according to the criminal complaint, discussed which of the rival groups to join. “Shabab is the main one,” Mr. Almonte told Mr. Alessa and an unidentified federal informer. “The main thing.”
Mr. Le Sage said that Al Shabab relied on mobilizing several thousand militia fighters from Somali clans, but that the foreigners could play important roles as commandos, intelligence agents or suicide bombers.
While Al Shabab have threatened to attack East African neighbors as well as Australia, the United States and Scandinavian countries, Mr. Le Sage said the organization had not yet carried out any strikes outside of Somalia. “That’s always a cause for concern,” he added.
The two suspects may have been misled in thinking that they were going to kill Americans in Somalia; there are actually very few in that country.
After 1993, when American forces were humiliated by clan militiamen in the episode that has come to be called Black Hawk Down, the United States has shown little appetite to send conventional forces back into Somalia.
But Al Shabab have been telling followers, for propaganda purposes, that the United States might get involved again.
There are American contractors working in Somalia managing logistics for the African Union peacekeepers there. Somali officials have also said that American intelligence agents frequently visit Somalia in an effort to improve the capacity of Somalia’s fledgling security services.
Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting from Nairobi, Kenya.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
2 NEW JERSEY (NJ) MEN ARRESTED AT AIRPORT
*** You cannot fight ideology exclusively through force; it tends to exacerbate the problem. MS ***
FROM: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5js8Rp36GIbKbq2igevloWpOolIiQD9G5QKE80
NEWARK, N.J. — Authorities say two New Jersey men who intended to kill American troops were arrested at a New York City airport before boarding flights on their way to join a jihadist group in Somalia.
Federal authorities say 20-year-old Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and 24-year-old Carlos Eduardo Almonte were arrested Saturday at John F. Kennedy Airport before they could board separate flights to Egypt and then continue on to Somalia.
Alessa, of North Bergen, and Almonte, of Elmwood Park, were charged with conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism.
Teams of state and federal law enforcement agents who have been investigating Alessa and Almonte since 2006 took them into custody. They are scheduled to appear Monday in federal court in Newark.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Two New Jersey men who allegedly intended to kill American troops were arrested Saturday at a New York City airport before boarding flights on their way to join a jihadist group in Somalia, a newspaper reported.
Mohamed Hamoud Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 26, were arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport before they could board separate flights to Egypt and then continue on to Somalia, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported. The newspaper cited officials familiar with the details of the arrests who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
Alessa, of North Bergen, and Almonte, of Elmwood Park, were charged with conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism through al-Shabaab, a violent extremist group based in Somalia and connected to al-Qaida, the officials told the newspaper. Al-Shabaab was designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group in 2008.
The FBI and the New York Police Department confirmed to The Associated Press that two men were arrested at the airport, but did not identify them or provide further details. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said no threat was made at the airport; New York police spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
Teams of state and federal law-enforcement agents who have been investigating Alessa and Almonte since 2006 took them into custody, the officials said. They are scheduled to appear Monday in federal court in Newark.
The arrests were made as part of an investigation known as Operation Arabian Knight. Authorities said an undercover NYPD officer had infiltrated the suspects' group of friends and was able to monitor their consumption of jihadist videos and literature, overseas travel preparations, and purchase of airline tickets.
The two men had planned their trip Somalia for several months, saving thousands of dollars, undergoing tactical training and test runs at paintball fields to condition themselves physically, and acquiring equipment and clothing they could use when they joined al-Shabaab in Somalia, the officials said. Both had bragged about wanting to wage holy war against the United States both at home and internationally, investigators said.
Officials said the two men were not planning an imminent attack in the New York-New Jersey area. Both are American citizens, the officials said.
Also Saturday, FBI agents sealed off Alessa's street in his neighborhood at around 10:30 p.m., and FBI agents, local police and the NYPD descended on his home, the newspaper reported. North Bergen police would say only that an investigation was in progress.
Twenty cars with agents and police came to Almonte's home at around 11 p.m., with agents searching the outside of his house and a detached garage, the newspaper reported.
Somalia, an impoverished East African nation of about 10 million people, has not had a functioning government for more than a decade, although the U.S. is backing a transitional government there. The Pentagon's top commander in the region has included Somalia on a list of countries where clandestine American military operations designed to disrupt militant groups would be targeted.
The arrests follow two failed terrorist attacks in the U.S. in recent months: an alleged attempted car bombing in Times Square by Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad last month, and the alleged attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
FROM: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5js8Rp36GIbKbq2igevloWpOolIiQD9G5QKE80
NEWARK, N.J. — Authorities say two New Jersey men who intended to kill American troops were arrested at a New York City airport before boarding flights on their way to join a jihadist group in Somalia.
Federal authorities say 20-year-old Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and 24-year-old Carlos Eduardo Almonte were arrested Saturday at John F. Kennedy Airport before they could board separate flights to Egypt and then continue on to Somalia.
Alessa, of North Bergen, and Almonte, of Elmwood Park, were charged with conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism.
Teams of state and federal law enforcement agents who have been investigating Alessa and Almonte since 2006 took them into custody. They are scheduled to appear Monday in federal court in Newark.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Two New Jersey men who allegedly intended to kill American troops were arrested Saturday at a New York City airport before boarding flights on their way to join a jihadist group in Somalia, a newspaper reported.
Mohamed Hamoud Alessa, 20, and Carlos Eduardo Almonte, 26, were arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport before they could board separate flights to Egypt and then continue on to Somalia, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported. The newspaper cited officials familiar with the details of the arrests who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
Alessa, of North Bergen, and Almonte, of Elmwood Park, were charged with conspiring to commit an act of international terrorism through al-Shabaab, a violent extremist group based in Somalia and connected to al-Qaida, the officials told the newspaper. Al-Shabaab was designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group in 2008.
The FBI and the New York Police Department confirmed to The Associated Press that two men were arrested at the airport, but did not identify them or provide further details. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington said no threat was made at the airport; New York police spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
Teams of state and federal law-enforcement agents who have been investigating Alessa and Almonte since 2006 took them into custody, the officials said. They are scheduled to appear Monday in federal court in Newark.
The arrests were made as part of an investigation known as Operation Arabian Knight. Authorities said an undercover NYPD officer had infiltrated the suspects' group of friends and was able to monitor their consumption of jihadist videos and literature, overseas travel preparations, and purchase of airline tickets.
The two men had planned their trip Somalia for several months, saving thousands of dollars, undergoing tactical training and test runs at paintball fields to condition themselves physically, and acquiring equipment and clothing they could use when they joined al-Shabaab in Somalia, the officials said. Both had bragged about wanting to wage holy war against the United States both at home and internationally, investigators said.
Officials said the two men were not planning an imminent attack in the New York-New Jersey area. Both are American citizens, the officials said.
Also Saturday, FBI agents sealed off Alessa's street in his neighborhood at around 10:30 p.m., and FBI agents, local police and the NYPD descended on his home, the newspaper reported. North Bergen police would say only that an investigation was in progress.
Twenty cars with agents and police came to Almonte's home at around 11 p.m., with agents searching the outside of his house and a detached garage, the newspaper reported.
Somalia, an impoverished East African nation of about 10 million people, has not had a functioning government for more than a decade, although the U.S. is backing a transitional government there. The Pentagon's top commander in the region has included Somalia on a list of countries where clandestine American military operations designed to disrupt militant groups would be targeted.
The arrests follow two failed terrorist attacks in the U.S. in recent months: an alleged attempted car bombing in Times Square by Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad last month, and the alleged attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
