Somali troops with the support of the Ethiopian army have seized key areas in Bay, government officials in southern Somalia announced yesterday, after months of operations centered on the town of Bardale.
The still ongoing campaign, described as "a cleanup operation," led to the recent capture of Iskoris, Morowarabe, and Walaq villages, according to Bardale mayor Mohamed Isaq Arro As.
Shabaab fighters escaped in the night as an overwhelming number of troops supported by tanks marched into the area without meeting any resistance.
According to AMISOM spokesman Colonel Ali Adan Humad, AMISOM and Somali troops are in final preparation for offensives against Shabaab in southern and central Somalia.
Shabaab fighters controlled much of Bay region for three years between 2009 and 2012, until Ethiopian forces pushed them out. The increased operations in the area began after Shabaab set up roadblocks on Oct. 19 in an attempt to punish regions in which it had lost control. Shabaab told locals that it "did not want any food to be taken to the people, who are living with infidels," alluding to the Somali and Ethiopian troops in the area. Earlier this month, on Dec. 13, Somali and Ethiopian troops cleared the roadblocks when hundreds of troops marched on the region, causing Shabaab militants to flee.
On Dec. 19, clashes took place in the district of Uforow, where according to eyewitnesses at least two people were killed and at least three Shabaab fighters were wounded in a firefight with government forces. No civilians are thought to have been harmed in the fighting, although Shabaab still controls the Bay region districts of Uforow and Dinsor as well as parts of Bardale.
Bardale was the location of "Ambush at Bardale," one of the most well-known videos featuring Omar Hammami, which was released by the group in March 2009 and documented Hammami and other Shabaab militants preparing for and executing an ambush on Ethiopian troops. The recruitment video also included an appeal from another English speaker to would-be jihadists to join the fight in Somalia, and was later determined to feature Somali-Americans, including Shirwa Ahmed.
Despite a military offensive led by the African Union and backed by the US that began in 2011, Shabaab still controls vast areas of southern and central Somalia. During the offensive, Shabaab was driven from major cities and towns such as Mogadishu, Kismayo, and Baidoa, but towns such as Bulobarde and Barawe remain under the terror group's control. The group has weathered the Ethiopian invasion, which began in December 2006 and ousted its predecessor, the Islamic Courts Union. More than six years later, Shabaab remains a capable force in southern Somalia and an integral part of al Qaeda's global network.
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Ansar al Sharia Tunisia denies emir was captured by US forces in Libya
Posted: 30 Dec 2013 11:39 AM PST
Earlier today, media outlets in North Africa reported that Seifallah ben Hassine (also known as Abu Iyad al Tunisi), the emir of Ansar al Sharia Tunisia, was captured during a combined US and Libyan raid in the city of Misrata. Below is an example from Tunis Afrique Presse:
Abu Iyad whose real name is Seifallah Ben Hussein Mokni, leader of Ansar al Sharia group listed as a "terrorist organisation" was captured, on Monday morning in Libya, authorised security source said.
US special forces captured Abu Iyad and other several persons accompanying him, with the assistance of Libyan forces and Libyan citizens, the same source said. Abu Iyad was captured in the town of Misrata, Libya.
Interim PM Ali Larayedh confirmed last August 27 the organisation's involvement in terrorist acts and in political assassination in Tunisia, listing it as a "terrorist organisation".
However, Ansar al Sharia Tunisia released a statement denying that ben Hassine was captured. The statement was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. SITE's summary of the statement is below:
Ansar al Sharia in Tunisia denied the capture of its leader, Abu Iyad al Tunisi, by U.S. and Libyan forces in the Libyan city of Misrata. In a statement posted on its Twitter account on December 30, 2013, the group charged that the "lying media" deliberated invented the story of Abu Iyad's capture in order to push Salafist youth into a physical response. It added: "Ansar al Sharia in Tunisia takes the hands of its youth in particular, and the youth of the Salafist current in general, to be careful with themselves from such rumors, the publishers of which cannot be sated or refreshed in their market without lying and falsifying. Evil indeed is that which they shall bear!"
Update:
The US denied that it captured Abu Iyad. From Reuters:
"U.S. forces were not involved in any operations regarding Ansar Al Sharia leader Abou Iyadh today in Libya," a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command said.
...
U.S. security officials told Reuters that U.S. intelligence agencies and their personnel also were not involved in any operation against Abu Iyad.
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Suicide bomber strikes again in southern Russia
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Aftermath of the suicide attack on a bus in Volgograd. Image from RIA Novosti.
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The southern Russian city of Volgograd has suffered its second suicide attack targeting public transportation in two days. Yesterday's blast took place at the city's train station, and today, a suicide bomber destroyed a trolley in the city. Both attacks are likely to have been carried out by the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, an al Qaeda-allied group whose leader has ordered his fighters to attack the 2014 Winter Olympics in nearby Sochi.
Today's suicide attack was designed to maximize casualties; the blast took place on a trolley at around 8 a.m. local time, as residents were commuting to work. The suicide bomber, who is believed to be a male, detonated the "equivalent to at least 4 kg TNT" on the crowded trolley, ITAR-TASS reported.
The blast demolished the trolley, peeling off the roof and sides. Reports indicate that at least 15 people were killed and 27 more were wounded; some of the wounded are in critical condition.
Today's terrorist attack took place just one day after a female suicide bomber, or Black Widow, killed 17 people and wounded dozens more in a suicide attack at the main train station in Volgograd. Yesterday's attack is thought to have been carried out by a woman who had been married to known jihadists from the Islamic Caucasus Emirate.
While no group has claimed credit for the last two attacks, they were most certainly carried out by the Islamic Caucasus Emirate, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in southern Russia. The Islamic Caucasus Emirate claims that Volgograd "is located in the northern part of the Islamic state of the Caucasus Emirate," according to Kavkaz Center, which distributes propaganda for the terror group.
The Islamic Caucasus Emirate is the only group operating in southern Russia known to use suicide bombers, and its Riyad-us-Saliheen Brigade has trained females for suicide missions. The terror group has announced that it seeks to disrupt the 2014 Winter Olympics slated for February in Sochi.
In July this year, Islamic Caucasus Emirate leader Doku Umarov issued a statement calling for further attacks aimed at disrupting Russia's plans for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, according to Kavkaz Center. He stated: "We know that on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many Muslims who died and are buried on our territory along the Black Sea, today they plan to stage the Olympic Games. We, as the Mujahedeen, must not allow this to happen by any means possible."
In that statement, Umarov also declared that the Islamic Caucasus Emirate is allied with al Qaeda and other international terrorist groups.
"We are a part of the global jihad," he said.
The Islamic Caucasus Emirate appears to be targeting public transportation in Volgograd in order to sow panic and deter visitors from traveling to the region for the Olympics. On Oct. 21, another Black Widow detonated explosives on a bus at a train station in Volgograd. That attack was carried out by a Dagestani woman named Naida Asiyalova. She was married to a jihadist who was wanted for executing bombings in the Caucasus. [See LWJ report, Suspected 'Black Widow' suicide bomber kills 6 in southern Russia.]
The blast on the bus today sparked panic in Volgograd and as far away as Moscow as rumors of other bombings circulated. In Volgograd, some commuters left buses and trains after rumors of other attacks in the city were reported on social media sites, according to RIA Novosti.
For more information on the Islamic Caucasus Emirate's use of female suicide bombers in its operations in Russia, see LWJ report, 'Black Widow' suicide bomber strikes at Russian train station.
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Suspected car bomb wounds 4 Egyptian soldiers in Sharkiya
At least four Egyptian security personnel were injured today in an attack outside a military intelligence building in Anshas in the Sharkiya governorate. In a statement released to Facebook, Egypt's army spokesman said the attack destroyed part of the building's back wall.
While not definitive, multiple reports indicate that the explosion was likely the result of a car bomb. "The blast is believed to have been caused by a car laden with explosives detonating near the intelligence building," Al Ahram reported. In a separate report, based on comments from a security official, Al Ahram stated that the "blast resulted from a remotely-detonated explosive device planted inside a privately-owned Hyundai Verna car." Security sources told the Associated Press that the remains of a vehicle were found near the building.
Hours after the attack, state-run MENA reported that authorities had managed to arrest "a person suspected of involvement."
Thus far, the attack has gone unclaimed. It came five days after an Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis) suicide car bombing attack outside the Daqahliya security directorate in Mansoura killed more than a dozen people and injured over 130 more. Two days later, on Dec. 26, a bomb exploded on a bus near Cairo, injuring at least five people.
In its claim of responsibility for the Mansoura attack, Ansar Jerusalem said it would continue to fight and reiterated its warning for Egyptian Muslims to stay away from buildings associated with the security forces. The group, which has issued such warnings since at least September, stated in an Oct. 21 communique that police and military headquarters "are legitimate targets for the mujahideen."
Today authorities also reportedly defused a bomb near al Azhar University's Faculty of Medicine in Damietta as well as an explosive device near a school in el Arish.
Since July 3, there have been more than 260 reported attacks in the Sinai Peninsula, most of which were carried out against Egyptian security forces and assets, according to data maintained by The Long War Journal. A good number of these attacks, including the Nov. 20 car bombing that killed 11 Egyptian security personnel, have been claimed by Ansar Jerusalem.
Attacks by Sinai-based jihadists, Ansar Jerusalem specifically, have also taken place in the Egyptian mainland. On Sept. 5, the jihadist group used a suicide car bomber in an assassination attempt in Nasr City on Egypt's interior minister, Mohammed Ibrahim. A month later, an Ansar Jerusalem suicide bomber unleashed a blast at the South Sinai Security Directorate in el Tor, which killed three security personnel and injured more than 45. On Oct. 19, the Sinai-based jihadist group targeted a military intelligence building in the city of Ismailia in another car bombing. And on Nov. 19, the group claimed responsibility for the shooting attack on Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Mabrouk, a senior national security officer, in Cairo.
The al Furqan Brigades, which are not believed to be based in the Sinai, have also claimed responsibility for a number of shootings and rocket attacks in the Egyptian mainland since the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi in early July. In contrast to Ansar Jerusalem, the group has yet to claim responsibility for any large car or suicide bombings.
Ansar Jerusalem, which was founded by Egyptians, is the dominant jihadist group operating in the Sinai Peninsula today. The group releases material through the jihadist forums of Al Fajr Media Center, al Qaeda's exclusive media distribution outlet, and Ansar Jerusalem fighters are often seen with the al Qaeda flag. Over the past two years, Ansar Jerusalem has claimed credit for a number of attacks against Israel and Egypt.
In September 2013, Ansar Jerusalem declared that "it is obligatory to repulse them [the Egyptian army] and fight them until the command of Allah is fulfilled." Recent reports in the Egyptian media have suggested that Ansar Jerusalem may have links to Muhammad Jamal and the Muhammad Jamal Network [MJN], which were added to the US government's list of designated terrorists and the UN's sanctions list in October 2013.
Jamal, whose fighters have been linked to the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi terror attack, is said to have established "several terrorist training camps in Egypt and Libya" with funding from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
In late November, in response to a Long War Journal query on whether the State Department believes there is a connection between the Muhammad Jamal Network (MJN) and Ansar Bayt al Maqdis, a State Department spokesman said: "We have no comment on the inter-relationships between MJN and the other Sinai groups."
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