Al-Shabaab group in Somalia |
Groups linked to al Qaeda in Somalia are using the international terror network to recruit Somali students in Pakistan and train them to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe, security analysts fear.
Al Qaeda chief
Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri announced the merger of Somali terrorist group al Shabaab
with his organization on February 10 this year, to create al Qaeda in East
Africa, or AQEA.
"They plan
to move from their conventional base in the Afghanistan and Pakistan region to
more vulnerable African countries," said Carl Adams, a counter-terrorism
expert based in Dubai.
In early 2012,
hundreds of fighters from the Middle East and Pakistan left Somalia, apparently
to help defend al Qaeda territory in Yemen, where a new president is likely to
use his popular mandate and American support to mount an offensive against the
international terrorist network.
This is happening as Al Shabaab fighters in Somalia have dismissed the country’s elections
saying the government to be elected shall not prevail over their
operations. A senior official of the radical Islamist group, Sheikh
Hassan Dahir Aweys, said on Wednesday that the elections will have no
negative consequences on the group.
“I urge al Shabaab fighters to multiply their struggle against the
government and the supporting forces from the regional countries, under
the auspices of the African Union Mission in Somalia,” he said. Speaking
to a local Radio Andalus, the broadcast mouthpiece of al Shabaab, Sheikh Aweys
underlined that the convening of a (federal) parliament and election of
the president was a show staged by Western powers.
According to Sheikh Aweys, those contesting for the post of president
are serving the interests of the enemies of Allah. He went on to accuse
the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Somalia Augustine Mahiga for
“shamefully masterminding the process".
Meanwhile the Mogadishu-based Centre for Research and Dialogue (CRD) on Thursday
concluded renovation of Somalia’s national theatre, officials said. The
Theatres manager Abdi Duh Yussuf told reporters in Mogadishu that the rehabilitation
process has now been concluded, with the support of the Somali
government in conjunction with CRD.
He said all offices and other vital areas of the theatre building have
been fully renovated and its activities including performances will soon
be back to normal. The facility was reopened March this year after 21
years of closure following the outbreak of civil war in the country in
early 1991. But after one month, a deadly explosion ripped though it,
killing seven people including two Somali sports officials and injuring
dozen others
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