Saturday, 11th February 2012
By formally joining Al Qaeda, the Al Shabaab has now exposed itself to international forces fighting terrorism, officer in charge of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Cyrus Oguna has said.
Col Oguna said the war in Somalia has now gone beyond being that of KDF and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) against Al Shabaab, but that of international forces against the Somali militants.
"This means other international forces against terrorism will come to operate in Somalia," Oguna said at the weekly briefing of the progress of Operation Linda Nchi in Somalia.
He however said the announcement of the merger by Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was not new. He said the Al Shabaab had now expanded into the global jihad field.
Contraband trade"This is nothing new as we always knew that they were part of it (Al-Qaeda). Now they have been given a global jihad feel and that resources will come," Oguna said during the briefing at Teleposta Plaza in Nairobi.
He said the announcement was self-serving and intended to act as a moral booster because of the major losses in territory, equipment and leadership and the leadership wrangles the Al Shabaab has suffered since Operation Linda Nchi began 119 days ago.
Oguna said the Al Shabaab has lost about 75 per cent sources of revenue through loss of strategic territories for trade in contraband and other goods.
"The Al Shabaab has responded by announcing a formal merger with Al-Qaeda," he said.
Oguna said on February 7, the combined KDF and TFG forces killed several Al Shabaab militants at an ambush at Dalayat.
He said during the attack, Al Shabaab commander in the southern sector Abu "The Al Shabaab has responded by announcing a formal merger with Al-Qaeda," he said.
Oguna said on February 7, the combined KDF and TFG forces killed several Al Shabaab militants at an ambush at Dalayat.
He said during the attack, Al Shabaab commander in the southern sector Abu "The Al Shabaab has responded by announcing a formal merger with Al-Qaeda," he said.
Oguna said on February 7, the combined KDF and TFG forces killed several Al Shabaab militants at an ambush at Dalayat.
He said during the attack, Al Shabaab commander in the southern sector Abu Yahya and key financier of the group, Mohamed Ismail, were killed and eight machine guns recovered.
Experts ponder Al Qaeda, Shabaab union implications 
War on Al shabaab 
No comments:
Post a Comment