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ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=waziristan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=swaziristan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=southwaziristan

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http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/uploads/766hajiomar3.jpg

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370097

"South Waziristan's Veteran Jihadi Leader: A Profile of Haji Omar"
By Sohail Abdul Nasir
(August 8, 2006)

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The recent insurgency in some portions of Pakistan's tribal belt has produced a chain of new leaders who govern their respective areas. A common trait of these new leaders is that they receive inspiration from the Afghan Taliban and openly call themselves the "local Taliban." The local Taliban has been associated with the Afghan Taliban and have also vowed to expel foreign troops from Afghanistan through waging jihad. Some of the new local Taliban leaders, such as Faqir Mohammad, are still actively carrying out their activities, but most of them, such as local Taliban leader Haji Omar, are keeping a low profile as a result of government reconciliation efforts (Terrorism Monitor, February 9).

Haji Omar is a veteran jihadi fighter who fought against the Red Army on the Kabul and Bagram fronts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He sustained serious injuries on numerous occasions, but despite these injuries he continued to fight against the Soviets until they withdrew from Afghanistan. His jihadi career is spread over three periods: against Soviet forces, on behalf of the Afghan Taliban against U.S. troops before the fall of Kabul and his current jihadi activities in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Omar is tall, well-built, with a long, thick, black beard. He wears a turban in traditional tribal style. He is approximately 55 years old, and was born in the village of Kalushah, which is situated some 10 kilometers from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan agency (BBC, April 20).

After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, he moved back to his hometown because war among the different jihadi groups disheartened him. At the end of the 1980s, he moved to the Gulf city of Dubai. When the Taliban established control over most of Afghanistan, he returned and became one of the close associates of Taliban chief Mullah Omar and assisted him in day-to-day routine governing matters. He remained there until the fall of the Taliban in 2001. In Waziristan, he began to organize the local Taliban groups. He has excellent communication skills; while Pashto is his native tongue, he is proficient in Arabic due to frequent socialization with Arabs in Afghanistan and also speaks broken Urdu (BBC, April 20).

Haji Omar's two brothers, Haji Sharif and Noor Islam, have been on the government's most wanted list (The News, February 11, 2005). As a result of the Shakai Agreement on April 24, they were given amnesty along with the late Nek Mohammad, but later this amnesty was revoked. Omar was appointed acting leader of the local Taliban group in South Waziristan when Nek Mohammad was killed in a missile attack (The News, June 21, 2004). Haji Omar belongs to the Yargulkhel sub-tribe of the Wazir tribe. This background helped him become the acting chief of the local Taliban in South Waziristan since Nek Mohammad was also a Wazir.

Omar is a staunch opponent of the United States, India and other countries that, according to him, occupy Muslim lands."

ON THE NET...

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2006/08/012621print.html

August 10, 2006

"Jihadists take control of key town in central Somalia"

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Beledweyne falls. Somali Jihad Update from AFP: "Islamists take control of key central Somali town"

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Islamic militia has seized control of a strategic township near the Ethiopian border from Somalia's transitional government, further expanding their territory.

There were no reported casualties in the clash, which saw only a brief exchange of fire around 7:00 am (0400 GMT) Wednesday.

Islamic militia commander Yusuf Makaraan said his fighters took control of Beledweyne, the capital of Hiraan region 300 kilometres (190 miles) north of Mogadishu, after the Ethiopia-backed, government-appointed governor Yusuf Ahmed Hagar allegedly fled to Ethiopia.

"We have full control of Beledweyne," Makarran told AFP by telephone."

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http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370096
Terrorism Focus
"Hardline Islamist Militia Group Shabbab Emerges in Somalia"
By Sunguta West
August 8, 2006

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http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370083
Terrorism Monitor
"Somalia's ICU and its Roots in al-Ittihad al-Islami"
By Sunguta West

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1659022/posts?page=1929#1929

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=somalia