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SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- A blackout of al-Qaida's main Web sites is in its 11th day, and officials think the forums may have been brought down in a cyberattack. While no one has claimed credit for disabling the sites..." SNIPPET: "The loss of information typically confuses and frustrates the readers of the Web sites. "It leaves the rank-and-file to guess which messages and which messengers are genuine al-Qaida, and provides undercover operators with new opportunities to disrupt the movement," said A. Aaron Weisburd, senior fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute."

"Senate Hs Committee Report Finds Online Jihadist 'Activity' Leads To Violent Islamist Extremism" by Anthony Kimery 02/28/2012 ( 9:12am) SNIPPET: "Violent Islamist extremists use the Internet to recruit, radicalize and mobilize individuals -- including Americans -- and “the threat of violent Islamist extremism has become increasingly decentralized and its messaging has followed that same trajectory,” according to a report issued Monday by both the majority and minority staff of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs." SNIPPET: "The report concluded that “the United States currently has a haphazard approach to dealing with global Internet radicalization and propaganda,” and...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 24, 2009 PRESS RELEASE BROOKLYN RESIDENT INDICTED FOR CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER OVERSEAS AND CONSPIRACY TO PROVIDE MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS An indictment was unsealed in federal court this morning charging Betim Kaziu, a U.S. citizen and resident of Brooklyn, with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.1 Kaziu is scheduled to be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for...

A huge air strike in al-Shabab-held southern Somalia has killed at least six people, including some foreigners, eyewitnesses have told the BBC. The strike destroyed two vehicles in a convoy in an area known as K60 because it is around 60km (35 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu, they say. It is not clear who carried out the strike. Al-Shabab recently announced it was joining al-Qaeda and is said to have some 200 foreign fighters. The BBC's Mohamed Dhore in the capital says the blast is far bigger than any carried out by Kenyan forces which have recently moved into...

First in a series MOGADISHU, Somalia — There are few success stories here in this tortured country on the eastern coast of Africa. For nearly two decades, this drought-ravaged land and the long-suffering Somali people have been "off the radar" for most Americans. It might still be so if it were not for radical Islamist Somali terrorists — al-Shabab — and their financiers, the seagoing pirates who seize merchant vessels plying the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. All of that is about to change. Last week, as our two-man Fox News unit was en route, Ayman al-Zawahri,...

SNIPPET: "While these various elements of the jihadist network are distinct, the Internet brings them together, especially at the grassroots level. Videos, websites and online magazines indoctrinate aspiring militants in the jihadist ideology and provide a forum for like-minded individuals and groups."

A former US Army soldier has been charged with trying to help Somalia's al-Shabab militant group. Craig Baxam, 24, was arrested by Kenyan authorities in December as he tried to cross the border into Somalia. An affidavit released by US prosecutors alleges that he planned to offer several hundred dollars to the militant group, which has links to al-Qaeda, and to serve as a fighter. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors say. … Mr. Baxam joined the army in 2007 and was trained in intelligence and cryptology. He previously served in Iraq, returned home and...

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — By the time U.S. military forces left Somalia in 1994 after entering the lawless nation more than a year earlier to stop a famine, 44 Army soldiers, Marines and airmen had been killed and dozens more wounded. Thus ended America's last large-scale military intervention in Africa. But the U.S. has come back, using special forces advisers, drones and tens of millions of dollars in military aid to combat a growing and multifaceted security threat. This time the United States is playing a less obtrusive role but is focusing once again on Somalia. While putting few U.S....

The girl’s voice dropped to a hush as she remembered the bright, sunny afternoon when she stepped out of her hut and saw her best friend buried in the sand, up to her neck. Her friend had made the mistake of refusing to marry a Shabab commander. Now she was about to get her head bashed in, rock by rock. “You’re next,” the Shabab warned the girl, a frail 17-year-old who was living with her brother in a squalid refugee camp. Several months later, the men came back. Five militants burst into her hut, pinned her down and gang-raped her,...

Garbaharey -- The administration of Gedo region in southern Somalia for the Transitional federal government disclosed that Al-shabab fighters in the region were hugely defeated by air strikes in El Adde Township, which is some 65km south of Garbahaarey town. The governor Gedo region for the Somali interim federal government, Mohamed Abdi Kalil said an exclusive interview with Shabelle media that nine Al-shabab fighters were seriously injured by on Friday air raids on the Islamist militant training camps in El Adde Township in his region. The governor also made further comments and details during the interview with Shabelle media about...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.fbi.gov/sandiego/press-releases/2011/san-diego-woman-pleads-guilty-to-conspiracy-to-provide-material-support-to-al-shabaab San Diego Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to al Shabaab U.S. Attorney’s Office December 01, 2011 Southern District of California SAN DIEGO—Nima Yusuf, 25, a resident of San Diego, pleaded guilty today in federal court in San Diego to conspiring to provide material support to al Shabaab, a foreign terrorist organization, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy announced. Yusuf entered her plea before Magistrate Judge Ruben B. Brooks, and the plea is subject to final acceptance by U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz at or before sentencing. As part of...

Terrorists operate in Namibia: NamRights‎ Informante - Nov 2, 2011 Written by Hilma Ndapandula Himotha The human rights organisation NamRights claims that some of the country’s highest political office holders tolerated and protected operations of at least two militant Islamic terrorist groups n Namibia. NamRights director Phil ya Nangoloh claims that his organisation is in possession of credible information that members of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militias as well as Somali al-Shabab jihadists have been operating in Namibia for several years. In a press release that NamRights published yesterday, ya Nangoloh demands from President Pohamba to clearly deny or confirm such...

Quote: www.fbi.gov/stlouis/press-releases/2011/local-man-pleads-guilty-to-providing-material-support-to-terrorist-organization Local Man Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to Terrorist Organization U.S. Attorney’s Office November 03, 2011 Eastern District of Missouri ST. LOUIS—The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that Mohamud Abdi Yusuf, 31, pled guilty to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. According to court documents, from February 2008 through at least July 2009, Yusuf, conspired with others to provide money to al Shabaab, which was designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2008. Yusuf transferred money to al Shabaab under fictitious names and telephone numbers utilizing money remitting...

A federal jury Thursday convicted two Rochester women of conspiring to help an Al-Qaida affiliate in their native Somalia under the guise of raising money for the poor. Amina Farah Ali, 35, and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, 64, were the first people to go on trial in connection with a sweeping federal investigation into alleged recruitment and fundraising activities in Minnesota for Al-Shabab -- classified by U.S. authorities in February 2008 as a foreign terrorist organization. Under U.S. law, it is illegal to support a foreign terrorist group. Both were found guilty on all counts. Al-Shabab and other militia groups are...

As the jury in the trial of two Rochester Somali women accused of supporting terrorists overseas began deliberations late Monday, a large group of the women's supporters held a court of their own outside the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. They decried the charges and the surveillance methods FBI agents used in their investigation of Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, both U.S. citizens who are the first to be tried in connection with one of the most extensive counterterrorism inquiries since the Sept. 11 attacks. "All Somalis around the world are listening to this case," shouted Abdinasir Abdi, who...

After an extensive search, Christians in the Bakool region of southwestern Somalia discovered the decapitated body of kidnapped Christian Juma Naradin Kamil on Sept. 2, 2011. Kamil’s body reportedly bore the marks of an execution by the Muslim terrorist group al-Shabab. “It is usual for al-Shabab to decapitate those they suspect to have embraced the Christian faith, or sympathizers of Western ideals,” a local Christian told Compass Direct News. “Our brother accepted the Christian faith three years ago and was determined in his faith in God. We greatly miss him.” On Aug. 21, three suspected al-Shabab terrorists forced Kamil into...

An Islamist fault famine in Somalia (genocide) - Thousands perished because of Islamists' policies  BBC News - Somali Islamists maintain aid ban and deny famine - Jul 22, 2011 - Somalia's al-Shabab Islamists have denied lifting their ban on some Western aid agencies and say UN reports of famine are "sheer propaganda".The UN on Wednesday said that parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years.A spokesman for al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda and controls much of the country, accused the banned groups of being political.But the UN insists famine exists and it will continue...

Somalia is in the midst of a famine, suffering from the worst drought in 60 years. 29,000 Somali children have died within the past three months, and 100,000 Somalis are expected to die in the next few weeks. The al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab has destroyed the country, taking over much of the southern part of the country where it has imposed a strict version of Sharia law. The Taliban-like organization refuses to allow humanitarian organizations associated with the West to provide aid to the starving people. Al-Shabab expelled the U.N.’s World Food Programme, which had provided the bulk of the aid,...

The Islamist terrorist group al Shabab is intentionally starving Somali Christians in territory it controls. It’s just the latest incident in the terror group’s systematic efforts to eradicate all of Somalia’s Christians. According to the International Christian Concern (ICC), al Shabab’s intentional denial of humanitarian aid has resulted in the deliberate starvation of 18 Christians in the Somali cities of Afgoye, Baidawa, and Kismayo. As ICC spokesman Jonathan Racho said, “Any Somali that is suspected of being a Christian, or a friend of a Christian, does not receive any food aid.” Unfortunately, the ongoing and purposeful elimination of the small...

A recent suicide bombing by a Somali-American from Minnesota comes on the heels of 18 Somalis charged with recruiting young Somali-American men for al-Shabab, Somalia’s brutal Islamist terror group. Both incidents underscore the growing threat posed by al-Shabab’s pipeline into America’s Somali community. According to al-Shabab leaders, 25-year-old Somali-American, Abdullahi Ahmed, detonated himself last week in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, killing two African Union peacekeeping troops in the process. Ahmed was one of 20 Somali-Americans from Minnesota who disappeared in 2007. At the time, all of the men were suspected of having gone to Somalia to join al-Shabab in...

As I write this, Somalia is suffering its worst drought in 60 years. The lack of rain—combined with civil unrest and political interference from the al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab group—has produced catastrophic results. Yesterday Nancy Linborg, an official with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told a Congressional committee that more than 29,000 children under the age of 5 had died over the past three months in Somalia, thanks to the famine. If conditions worsen—and there's little reason to expected that they won't—upwards to 800,000 children may die of hunger and other causes. The violent political situation on the ground...

The World Food Program can't reach 2.2 million Somalis in desperate need of aid in militant-controlled areas of Somalia, WFP's director said Saturday, meaning refugee camps in nearby Kenya and Ethiopia are likely to continue seeing thousands of new refugees each week. SNIP Al-Shabab signaled in early July that it would accept aid groups it had previously banned, but changed course on Thursday, saying groups like WFP are not welcome. The group's refusal to accept aid from Western and "Christian" aid groups means millions could starve — or be forced to begin the hike to help to Kenya, Ethiopia or...

To Omer Abdi Mohamed, raising money to send other young men to Somalia, to train and arm them with assault rifles to fight there, had nothing to do with terrorism. In late 2007, he said, it was about defending his homeland against Ethiopians. One problem: It was still illegal, federal officials say. On Monday, Mohamed agreed, pleading guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to a single count of conspiracy to "murder, kidnap or maim" Ethiopian and Somali troops. His plea came of the eve of his trial. He would have been the first of 21 local people of Somali descent...

The UN has made its first aid delivery to drought victims in areas of Somalia controlled by al-Qaeda-linked militants since they lifted an aid ban. UN children organisation's Rozanne Chorlton said al-Shabab had given UN workers unhindered access and hoped this would encourage other agencies. It comes as the UK pledged £52.25m ($84m) in emergency drought aid. But the UK's overseas aid minister told the BBC the UK would not deal with al-Shabab, which controls much of Somalia. Andrew Mitchell is touring the huge Dadaab camp in north-eastern Kenya to see the scale of the crisis caused by the drought,...

<p>A fight at Minnesota’s largest mosque is getting a lot of attention in the Somali community, with many saying it exposes a divide between those who want the mosque to take on a more political role while others want the mosque to stay out of politics altogether.</p>

WASHINGTON — The clandestine American military campaign to combat Al Qaeda’s franchise in Yemen is expanding to fight the Islamist militancy in Somalia, as new evidence indicates that insurgents in the two countries are forging closer ties and possibly plotting attacks against the United States, American officials say. An American military drone aircraft attacked several Somalis in the militant group the Shabab late last month, the officials said, killing at least one of its midlevel operatives and wounding others. The strike was carried out by the same Special Operations Command unit now battling militants in Yemen, and it represented an...

Suicide Bomber Attacks Mogadishu Port Thursday, June 9th, 2011 at 3:45 pm UTC Posted 25 minutes ago Somali police say a suicide bomber has attacked the main port in the capital, Mogadishu, killing at least one civilian and also losing his own life. Authorities say the attacker and another man penetrated a security wall on Thursday. Police say the first man detonated explosives he was wearing, killing himself and another person. Security forces shot and killed the second attacker. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab is fighting the Somali government and African Union troops...

Somali Islamist militants have come under attack by two foreign helicopters near Kismayo, their spokesman says. Hassan Yacqub said two patrolling al-Shabab fighters were wounded in the raid on Thursday evening in Qandal on the outskirts of the port city. He said the fighters fired back at what were either US or French helicopters. Kismayo is a stronghold of the al-Shabab Islamist group, which has links to al-Qaeda, and controls large parts of southern and central Somalia. Residents told the BBC that there was a large al-Shabab training camp in the area of Qandal, about 10km (six miles) south of...

Nearly three years ago, a Minneapolis man blew himself up oceans away in Somalia. His death put Minnesota at the heart of a still unfolding multinational counterterrorism probe that has seen 20 Minnesotans indicted on terror-related charges, at least another nine killed in fighting overseas and a handful more arrested and convicted. Others have been charged with fundraising or wiring money to a terror group in Somalia, and one of the men charged is scheduled to go on trial next month -- a first in the case. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited Minneapolis last month to reaffirm his office's...

Somali Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan has been killed in a suicide attack at his home in the capital, Mogadishu. Officials say the bomber was his own teenage niece, who had joined the Islamist militant group al-Shabab. The group said it carried out the attack and said more would follow. Meanwhile, two people are said to have been killed in Mogadishu during protests against a deal to extend the terms of the president and parliament. Under the deal signed in Uganda on Thursday, their mandates have been extended until June 2012 and the prime minister is to be sacked....

Somali officials confirmed today that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al Qaeda's leader in East Africa and a senior Shabaab commander, was killed at a Somali military checkpoint in Mogadishu earlier this week. Fazul is one of the most wanted terrorists in East Africa for his role in attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania as well as his role within Shabaab. Somalia's minister of information confirmed Fazul's death, according to The Associated Press. "We've compared the pictures of the body to his old pictures," he said. "They are the same. It is confirmed. He is the man and he is...

Another Somali man is charged in Minnesota in connection with the travels of young men who are thought to have joined a terror group in their homeland. Ahmed Hussein Mahamud was arrested Thursday in Columbus, Ohio, and made his initial appearance in federal court there on charges of providing material support to terrorists. An indictment unsealed Thursday says that from April 2009 to July 2009, Mahamud provided money and personnel to al-Shabab.

Somali government troops backed by African Union forces have advanced towards the main market in the capital Mogadishu, a stronghold of the Islamist rebels of al-Shabab. The government says it has taken several key locations in the city after heavy fighting. It says it now controls around half of Mogadishu. Correspondents say this marks a considerable change of fortunes -- earlier this year the Somali authorities held little more than a few roads around the presidential palace.

SNIPPET: "Total bail was set at $200,000, and as a condition of release, Mr. Hersi must be in the company of one of his sureties at all times, except during private consultations with his lawyer. He has also been banned from applying for a passport, possessing firearms and accessing the Internet."

Two Muslim extremists in Somalia murdered a member of a secret Christian community in the name of Islam in Lower Shabele region as part of a campaign to rid the country of Christianity, sources said. An area source told Compass two al Shabaab militants shot 21-year-old Hassan Adawe Adan in Shalambod town after entering his house at 7:30 p.m. “Two al Shabaab members dragged him out of his house, and after 10 minutes they fired several shots on him,” said an area source who requested anonymity. “He then died immediately.” The militants then shouted “Allahu Akbar [God is greater]” before...

A Somali who attacked the home of a Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad has been jailed for nine years by a Danish court. Mohamed Geele, 29, was convicted on Thursday of attempted murder and terrorism after his attack last year on Kurt Westergaard, 75. Mr Westergaard avoided injury by sheltering in a panic room ....[SNIP]............ Living in the city of Aalborg, he was involved in a youth club, where he became a role model for others, former club worker Nuuradiin Hussein said. "He was one of my favourite boys at the club," said Mr Hussein, now a social...

Note: Photo included. SNIPPET: "Bout and American-born pal Richard Chichakli were accused of creating a new business, Samar Airlines, which they thought was clean of any connection to their own bloody dealings. Starting in the summer of 2007, Samar Airlines started making deals for airplanes and crews to ferry contraband between the United States and Tajikistan, the indictment said." SNIPPET: "The Russian-born Bout is accused of wiring $1.7 million from bank accounts in Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Russia through banks in New York City and Salt Lake City to finance the scheme." SNIPPET: "Bout, who is accused of supplying weapons to real...

At least 19 people were killed during heavy clashes on Saturday, with government forces staging a violent mutiny in a separate incident, Radio Garowe reports. The fighting sparked overnight Friday after Al Shabaab insurgents attacked bases of Somali government forces and their African Union (AMISOM) allies in Hodan district. Witnesses reported that many civilians including children were killed during the nighttime fighting. At least 25 wounded persons were admitted to Mogadishu's Medina Hospital. Al Shabaab military spokesman, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, claimed that the insurgents killed 15 AMISOM peacekeepers and 30 Somali soldiers. He did not say the number of...

With a cry of “there is no God but Allah!” two young Somali girls ages 18 and 15 were executed before hundreds of witnesses in a spray of bullets in Mogadishu, Somalia, yesterday. The girls were sent to their deaths by Sheikh Mohammed Ibrahim ... These executions come amongst a string of Al Shabab- sponsored whippings, amputations and executions such as those suffered by the two young women — – all in the name of Islam and overseen by judges whose only qualifications are that they are men who claim to know the Koran.

An Indiana grandmother who married a suspected German jihadist and converted to the Muslim religion is under investigation for possible ties to terrorists, according to FoxNews.com . Kathie Smith, 46, is a U.S. citizen and lives in Indianapolis.

Mogadishu, 23 Nov (AKI) - Islamist militiamen on Tuesday in central Somalia publicly flogged two teenagers who tried to elope together, Radio Shabelle reported. Tribal elders sentenced the teenagers to 12 lashes each. The pair, whose ages were not stated, had tried to marry secretly without their parents' consent, Radio Shabelle said. The youngsters were flogged on their backs in the central square in the village of Jalalaqsi in Hiran province, according to Radio Shabelle. In October, Islamist militants shot dead two adolescents accused of spying for the transitional government in Mogadishu, the radio station said. The Al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist...

NOTE The following blog entry is a quote: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2010 update on : German terror suspect arrested in Kenya UPDATE ON German detained in Kenya on terror suspicion-report Kenyan police said on Tuesday they had arrested a suspected German militant and deported him shortly after issuing an alert about his presence in the country. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said Sascha Alessandro Boettcher, who arrived in Kenya on September 22, was arrested in Mtwapa outside the coastal city of Mombasa."Kindly note that the suspect has been arrested from a private residence in Mtwapa and deported back to Germany," Kiraithe...

Note: Photo included. NOTE The following text is a quote: Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Somali Family Laments Kidnapping of Christian Girl Islamist extremist insurgents abducted 15-year-old nearly eight months ago By Dan Wooding Founder of ASSIST Ministries MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that an underground Christian family from central Somalia is agonizing over the kidnapping of their daughter nearly eight months ago by Islamic militants bent on punishing those who leave Islam. Al Shabaab gunmen in Somalia Ghelle Hassan Aded told Compass that he has not seen his 15-year-old daughter, Anab Ghelle Hassan, since Islamic...

Witnesses say unidentified helicopter gunships have attacked a Somali town controlled by al-Shabab militants. Residents of Marka, south of Mogadishu, say the gunships fired on houses of al-Shabab commanders Sunday. They say the helicopter flew away after Islamist forces fired back at it. There have been no immediate reports of casualties and no claim of responsibility. An al-Shabab commander, Salah Ali Salah Nabhan, was killed in a U.S. helicopter strike in the town of Barawe last year. Al-Shabab controls much of southern and central Somalia, including parts of the capital. The group is attempting to overthrow the Somali government and...

Somalis Say Militant 'Commander' Killed In Street Battle Had US Papers An American member of an al Qaeda-connected terror group has been killed in fighting in Somalia, according to intelligence and government officials there. The fighter, a Somali-American man known as Dahir Gurey Sheikh Ali Guled, was found dead in Mogadishu after a street battle between the militant group, Al Shabab, and pro-government forces. A US official told ABC News that Gurey was believed to be an American citizen who arrived in Somalia earlier this year, but cautioned that the US government has not independently confirmed Mr. Gurey's death or...

SNIPPET: "A Shabaab suicide assault attacked Mogadishu International Airport today, killing five people. The Shabaab fighters were beaten back by African Union troops guarding the facility after the terror team penetrated the first ring of security. A suicide team of five Shabaab fighters, some dressed in uniforms worn by Somali soldiers, launched their attack at the airport entrance at around 2:00 p.m. local time, according to a press release put out by African Union forces. "The first vehicle exploded at the airport entrance, around 500 meters from the airport terminal," the African Union stated. "The second vehicle, following immediately behind...

Al Shabaab Terrorist banned women in areas under their control in Somalia to wear bra calling it as Un-Islamic, witnesses told TF.SF on Tuesday. The witnesses reported that al Shabaab young fighters were stopping women in Mogadishu especially areas under their control not to wear bra or they would face punishment from them.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's government is appealing for more help in its fight against powerful militants who have recently intensified their attacks. President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said Monday it was unrealistic to expect the forces of an ill-equipped government to battle the al-Qaida-linked group al-Shabab.

Behind the blue gates of his Islamic school in Nairobi's Eastleigh neighborhood, Ahmed Awil cannot escape his country's civil war. Schools and mosques where extremist views are taught are reshaping this Somali immigrant community that for years has lived peacefully in the capital of this predominantly Christian country. Moderate imams now compete with hard-line preachers pushing a strict interpretation of Islam. Bookstores sell anti-Western literature. Residents speak fearfully of militant spies, and children like Ahmed are taught to praise al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked militia, for waging jihad in Somalia against the U.S.-backed government. "My teachers tell us al-Shabab is fighting for...