December 2, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Islamic State Targeting Africa: Top Africom Commander Tells VOA
01 December – Source: Voice of America – 570 Words
The Syria-based Islamic State group has expanded its reach in Africa, courting Islamist extremists from Nigeria to Somalia while establishing a major nerve center close to Europe, a top leader of U.S. Africa Command told VOA. The militant group has grown to about 2,000 strong in and around the city of Sirte, Libya, according to the U.S. Africa Command’s Deputy for Military Operations, Vice Admiral Michael Franken. Back in February, there were a mere 200 Islamic State fighters in the city.
“If Raqqa [Syria] is the nucleus, the nearest thing to the divided nucleus is probably Sirte,“ said Franken, speaking in an interview at Africom headquarters in Stuttgart. “From there they look to export their terror into Europe and elsewhere.” It is beginning to appear that any counter-Islamic State strategy needs “serious elements” not only in regard to Syria and Iraq, but also Libya and Yemen, according to Brookings defense policy expert Michael O’Hanlon.
“Access from Libya to Europe is disturbingly easy,” O’Hanlon told VOA. “Sirte looks like a real stronghold — and one with little prospect of being taken away from ISIL anytime soon.” Libya has become an importer of terrorists and the most important nexus for the Islamic State group in Africa, according to Franken. Libyan government officials have reported hundreds of foreign fighters in Libya, with many pouring in from neighboring Tunisia and Yemen.
The terror group has now expanded its reach to war-torn Somalia, where about two dozen Al-Shabaab militants switched their allegiance from Al-Qaida to Islamic State in late October. Franken called the presence of 20-some Islamic State fighters in Somalia “insignificant.” The allegiance switch has proved “unhealthy,” he explained, as Al-Shabaab has managed to keep the shift “to a minimum” by attacking members who pledge loyalty to Islamic State. VOA reported last week that Al-Shabaab fighters killed veteran group official Sheikh Hussein Abdi Gedi and four others after Gedi reportedly tried to convince members to make the switch to Islamic State.
Last month, nine Al-Shabaab members, including the allegedly pro-IS commander Sheikh Bashir Abu Numan, died in a factional clash near the town of Saakow. The latest developments in East Africa come months after West African terror group Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State: “We know there have been some Boko Haram fighters that went north and joined [Islamic State]. Fortunately, not many of them came back,” said Franken.
Key Headlines
- Islamic State Targeting Africa: Top Africom Commander Tells VOA (Voice of America)
- Al-Shabaab Attacks Military Base In Qoryoley District (Shabelle News)
- Puntland Leader Says Yes To Peace But Declines To Meet Galmudug Leader (Mareeg Online)
- After A Year Of Service Djibouti Deploys Fresh Troops To Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
- Suspected British Jihadi Hunted By Kenyan Police Over Links To Terror Group Al-Shabaab (The Mirror)
- Experts Warn Of Pirate Attacks As Indian Ocean Security Level Is Reduced (Arabian Business)
- US Drone War November 2015: American Troops In Afghanistan And Somalia Supported By New Strikes (Bureau Investigates)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Attacks Military Base In Qoryoley District
01 December – Source: Shabelle News – 140 Words
Details emerging from Lower Shabelle region indicate that there was deadly clash between Al-Shabaab militants and members of the Somali National Army (SNA) in the strategic town of Qoryooley. The armed confrontation broke out when heavily armed militants with the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab attacked on Monday night a military base in the town manned by SNA.
Confirming the incident, the deputy commissioner of Qoryoley said during an interview with Radio Shabelle that SNA repulsed the attackers and inflicted a heavy loss to the Al-Shabaab fighters. However, Al-Shabaab claimed on its online sites that their combatants killed an unspecified number of government soldiers in the attack at Qoryoley, 120 kilometers northwest of Mogadishu capital. In March, 2014, Somali National Army backed by African Union forces overran Al-Shabaab outposts and captured the key town of Qoryooley in Lower Shabelle region.
Puntland Leader Says Yes To Peace But Declines To Meet Galmudug Leader
01 December – Source: Mareeg Online – 105 Words
Reports from Galkayo city indicate there is mounting tension between Galmudug and Puntland forces amid ongoing peace talks. Tension rose in northern Galkayo after sporadic gunfire heard on Tuesday morning at Garsoor village, a frontline where Puntland and Galmudug troops fiercely battled last week. The sound of sporadic gunfire continues in the city as Somali Federal Government Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, Jubaland President and the South West President are engaged in closed-door talks with Puntland and Galmudug leaders. Sources confirmed to Mareer Online that Puntland’s Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas has yielded to the resolution efforts but declined to sit down at the negotiating table with Galmudug leader Abdikarim Hussein Guled.
After A Year Of Service, Djibouti Deploys Fresh Troops To Somalia
01 December – Source: Hiiraan Online – 255 Words
The Djiboutian government has deployed fresh troops to Somalia, replacing troops serving under the African Union force fighting the Al-Qaeda-linked militants after a year-long service. An UN-chartered plane has transported hundreds of troops, who helped to oust militants from towns and villages in the region, from Beledweyne airport as their new colleagues took over their positions in the town and other areas in Hiiraan region.
Based in Beledweyne, locals often credit Djiboutian-AU troops with the provision of basic aid and social services and winning the hearts and minds of the residents in the region, which still faces attacks by the Al-Qaeda linked militants. Last year, the contingent came to the aid of civilians in Beletweyne, by helping in evacuations after heavy rains caused massive flooding in the region. In December 2011, Djibouti, which is sandwiched between Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia, became the third country to contribute to AMISOM and deployed a contingent of 960 troops into Somalia to fight Al-Shabaab militants. The terror group aims at maintaining its grip on the rural areas in Hiiraan region after abandoning most of their key strongholds, thanks to the multi-pronged offensives by the AMISOM and Somali troops.
However, the group still has some control over a string of villages between Beledweyne and Buloburte, a corridor that could give the militants a larger area to launch attacks to disrupt the on-going offensive against it and consolidate its power bases in south and central Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Suspected British Jihadi Hunted By Kenyan Police Over Links To Terror Group Al-Shabaab
01 December – Source: The Mirror – 263 Words
Kenyan police are hunting a suspected British jihadi over alleged links to Somali militant group Al- Shabaab. The East African country’s interior ministry posted an appeal for information to arrest Malik Yassin, posting a picture of a bearded man and describing him as a tall and slender white man with a British accent.
“Malik Yassin, a British citizen, is suspected to have sneaked into the country and police have issued an alert for his arrest,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Twitter feed:”Police suspect that Malik is one of the Al-Shabaab foreign fighters of British origin,” it added. Kenya has been on heightened alert following a spate of bomb and gun attacks by Al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist group which has said its assaults are aimed at driving Kenyan troops and other members of an African Union force out of Somalia.
In April, Al-Shabaab gunmen stormed Garissa University near the Somali border and killed at least 147 people. In 2013, the militant group killed 67 people when it raided the upscale Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi. The interior ministry said another British jihadi, Thomas Evans, was killed in June during an al Shabaab attack on a Kenyan military base in northern coastal region of Lamu County, near the Somali border.
In the past, Kenya has been a traditional transit route for Britons seeking to join Al-Shabaab in war-torn Somalia. Michael Adebolajo, who hacked a British soldier to death on a London street in 2013, was deported by Kenya after being arrested by the Kenyan police near the Somali border.
Experts Warn Of Pirate Attacks As Indian Ocean Security Level Is Reduced
01 December – Source: Arabian Business – 645 Words
International maritime groups on Tuesday amended the boundaries of a high-risk security zone in the Indian Ocean, in a move expected to streamline trade between India and the Gulf but increase the risk of attacks by Somali pirates. The reduction of the BMP4 High Risk Area (HRA) – which has been in place since 2012 to indicate piracy-prone waters in response to an increasing number of attacks on trade vessels at that time – came into force on December 1, following intense lobbying by the Indian government.
India had claimed the zone had the effect of diverting ships along the Indian coast, complicating trade routes and causing congestion and collisions. In a statement issued in October, India’s Ministry of Shipping said: “The extended HRA came almost near the Indian coastline up to as close as about 35 nautical miles from the baseline. This was an unwarranted encroachment into India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“International maritime traffic density came hugging the Indian coastline to avoid the HRA. This led to maritime congestion culminating in three reported instances of collisions between merchant ships and fishing vessels and the fatalities of five Indian fishermen. “It also led to the proliferation of armed security guards on board merchant vessels to deter piracy attacks and hijackings. There have been cases of firing by guards on Indian fishing boats and a couple of Indian fishermen have lost their lives.
In October, an agreement was reached with the Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (GCPCS) and other international maritime authorities to shrink the HRA away from India. The move is expected to speed up trade between India and the Gulf as ships take a more direct route, however, security experts have warned it could make them vulnerable to attack by “opportunistic” Somali pirates.
It could also either push up insurance costs for ships passing through the HRA or prompt some to continue sailing close to India to avoid any higher insurance costs. Gerry Northwood, COO of UK-based maritime security company MAST and a former Royal Navy counter-piracy commander, told Arabian Business: “With the new HRA in place, ship owners may start to take a more direct route between the Gulf of Oman and the southern tip of India. Previously, many vessels were routing along the Indian coast to avoid the HRA and this was disrupting Indian coastal traffic and fisheries.
“On the other hand, should vessels see this reduction as a green light to take a more direct route between the Gulf of Oman and India, I believe they should continue to think very carefully about the level of risk to their vessel: “Somali pirates have previously demonstrated that they can operate in the centre and northern reaches of the Indian Ocean, and vessels that are high risk with a low freeboard and slow speed should continue to take armed security in that area.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The first strike in Somalia since July killed at least five people on November 21, according to three Somali government officials and local residents. The US confirmed its forces “conducted a self-defense airstrike against Al-Shabaab”
US Drone War, November 2015: American Troops In Afghanistan And Somalia Supported By New Strikes
01 December – Source: Bureau Investigates – 498 Words
United States strikes continued in Afghanistan and Somalia last month, says the latest report of the Monthly updates on the covert war released by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. According to the report, strikes in both countries were carried out to counter a threat to US forces on the ground. However, there were no attacks reported in Pakistan, where the Pakistan Air Force continues bombing the tribal areas, or in Yemen where the Saudi-led coalition’s aerial bombing campaign continued. November was the second consecutive calendar month without a reported US strike in Pakistan.
Despite this halt in CIA drone strikes, US air operations continue across the border in Afghanistan and the impact is being felt in the tribal areas of Pakistan. On November 20 details emerged of several funerals for people killed in US air strikes in Afghanistan. These ceremonies, held in various districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, were reportedly attended by thousands of people.
The Bureau recorded nine US strikes in Afghanistan in November. This is a dramatic fall from the 82 recorded in October. It is not yet known if this is an actual fall, or possibly a sharp decline in the number of strikes publicly reported. The total number of attacks carried out by US forces in November will be released by the US government at some point in the second week of December.
In November fresh details emerged of the October 3 US air strike on the Kunduz hospital. General John Campbell said the attack was “the direct result of avoidable human error, compounded by process and equipment failures”. The US will publish a redacted copy of the national investigation, according to US Army Colonel Michael Lawhorn, US Forces – Afghanistan spokesman. Though “that process could take some weeks.”
There were no US drone strikes reported in Yemen in November, the second calendar month this year without a reported attack. Also last month, the US announced it was offering rewards for information about six Al-Shabaab fighters totalling $26m. The men included the new leader of the terrorist group, Abu Ubaidah, and his deputy, Mahad Karate