Somalia: terrorist organizations

Sunday's attacks in Kampala are a very dangerous signal. Three months ago, I wrote that "another Taliban is being created on African soil." At that time, I was thinking primarily about the situation in Somalia controlled by Al-Shabaab, where, according to the best Afghan models, Islamists use draconian measures and compliance with Sharia law. However, now it turns out that the situation in Somalia is becoming more and more similar to Afghanistan in terms of the terrorist threat. In a country that exists mostly in name only and is torn apart by civil war, the conditions for the creation of terrorist bases and the recruitment of "holy war" fighters are ideal. Moreover, the Islamist movement in Somalia is becoming more radical and internationalized. Worries about this issue have been appearing for a long time.
For example, it is known that between 500 and 1,500 foreign fighters are serving in the ranks of Al-Shabaab today. In October 2009, 26-year-old Shirva Ahmed (by the way, the first Islamist suicide bomber with U.S. citizenship in history) attacked facilities belonging to the authorities of quasi-independent Puntland (a province in central Somalia). In turn, two months later, a suicide bomber with a Danish passport carried out a terrorist attack that killed one of the ministers of the interim government.
A separate issue remains the relationship between Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda. In February of this year, the Somali Taliban officially confirmed that they are allies of the "Base" and their struggle to create an Islamic state in Somalia is part of a global jihad. Some Al-Shabaab leaders have offered to send their fighters to help the Islamist rebels in neighboring Yemen. Almost certainly those responsible for the attacks in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, including Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the alleged head of Al-Qaeda in East Africa, were hiding or are still in Islamist-controlled territory. In addition, in September 2009, Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, the terrorist responsible for the attacks on Israeli targets in Kenya in 2002, was killed during a U.S. air raid on southern Somalia.
What will be the consequences of Sunday's attacks in Kampala? In an interview with RFI, Dr. Afyare Abdi Elmi (an expert on Somalia) argued that they would increase the propensity of neighboring countries (mainly Ethiopia and Kenya) for short-term military interventions in Somalia and increase xenophobic attitudes towards Somali refugees. It is also likely that the United States will increase assistance to the transitional government of Somalia and (as it has been in the past) launch small strikes against the Islamists with the help of aircraft or special units. On the contrary, the attacks are unlikely to affect Uganda's support for AMISOM. 革新的なテクノロジーと古典的なゲーム体験が融合する場所、 ボンズカジノ へようこそ。ここでは、最新のゲーム、魅力的なプロモーション、質の高いサポートが提供されているため、各セッションでポジティブな感情と当然の賞金のみがもたらされます。