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. . . After gunmen killed Somali journalist Hassan Osman Abdi on Saturday, colleagues and friends said they were too scared to attend his funeral that day, since militants in Somalia have targeted such gatherings in the past. Abdi, a 29-year-old director of a radio station, was a father of three.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (KABC) -- The Somali pirates who are holding a Southern California man hostage released a statement Friday night saying they have moved the man around four times in fear of a Navy SEALs attack. This comes after the dramatic rescue of two other hostages this week, possibly putting his life at risk. Michael Scott Moore, an author and journalist from Manhattan Beach, had been working from Berlin, Germany, and had traveled to Somalia before to conduct research. But this time, he was captured. There are conflicting reports from Somalia about whether the pirates plan to hold him ransom...

Nick and I felt privileged to be invited to the special advance screening of Act of Valor, one week ago today. The Navy SEALs in the film weren’t portrayed by drug-addled Hollywood action heroes. They were real-life, active duty Navy SEALs. This morning the world learned, again, what makes these guys worth every dime we pay them and more . . . In an apparently flawless mission that could have been lifted straight from the film, the SEALs infiltrated a Somali pirate compound and rescued two kidnapped aid workers: American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Thisted. The pair were kidnapped...

...In a statement sent to NBC News and other media, Obama says that he authorized the operation to rescue Buchanan. "Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations Forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home," he says. "As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts." Obama, who spoke to Buchanan's father Tuesday night, says she was "selflessly serving her fellow human beings when she was taken hostage by criminals and pirates who showed no regard for...

A U.S. special operations team of Navy SEALs rescued two aid workers in Somalia Tuesday night, including a U.S. woman who had been held hostage for three months by Somali kidnappers and suffered from a life-threatening medical condition. Jessica Buchanan, 32, of Bedford, Va., and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, of Denmark, were abducted Oct. 25 by a band of Somalis while on their way to the airport in Galcayo, located in central Somalia. Both were working for the Danish Refugee Council's Danish Demining Group, and had just finished a training course for local Somali citizens when they were abducted. In...

U.S. special operations forces have rescued a kidnapped American aid worker and her Danish colleague in Somalia, U.S. officials said Wednesday. During the raid, all nine of their captors were killed. Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, were abducted Oct. 25 by a group of armed men in the Somali town of Galkayo. Pentagon officials said there is no indication the men had any connection to international terrorism or al-Shabab, Somalia’s al-Qaeda affiliate. Instead, the men are believed to have been pirates, hoping to trade their captives for ransom.

WASHINGTON -- In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News. American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group. According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held. As the...

SNIPPET: "CHANTING fundamentalist bile, extremist Abu Jibreel was on the front line battling police officers during a mock "funeral" for Osama Bin Laden. With his beard and flowing robes, the follower of hate preacher Anjem Choudary was happy to tell anyone who would listen that he wants to bring down democracy..." SNIPPET: "The Sun can reveal that the 39-year-old Muslim convert was born Paul Steven Mellor in Cheshire." SNIPPET: "He is campaigning for Sharia law and self-governing Muslim "states" to be established in Britain." SNIPPET: "Choudary gloated: "We have a former British Army soldier in our organisation. Next we want...

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The October al-Qaida video shows a light-skinned man handing out food to families displaced by famine in Somalia. But the masked man is not Somali, or even African — he's a Wisconsin native who grew up in San Diego. A handful of young Muslims from the U.S. are taking high-visibility propaganda and operational roles inside an al-Qaida-linked insurgent force in Somalia known as al-Shabab. While most are from Minnesota, which has the largest Somali population in the nation, al-Shabab members include a Californian and an Alabaman with no ancestral ties to Somalia. "They are being deployed...

The AU wants Africa to manufacture and export finished products to its trading partners rather than just selling them the raw materials as it does now. She cited China, India, the EU and US and other rising stars in trade with the continent, including Turkey and Latin America, and said the AU had held talks on the new breed of partnerships with some of them. The AU also wants Africa to have a veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council, and a place at the G20 negotiating table, Ali said. The peace and security that have eluded Africa for decades...

The Royal Navy has captured 13 Somali pirates onboard a sail boat in the Indian Ocean, the Ministry of Defence has said. A combined Nato-led counter-piracy force successfully intercepted the vessel which was known to be operating off the Somali coast. Both Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Victoria and United States Ship Carney manoevered into position around the dhow and encouraged her to comply with the British and American forces. After the boat refused to cooperate, a Royal Navy helicopter with Royal Marine maritime snipers was deployed to provide various clear warnings to the suspects to stop. The boat refused to...

MADRID — Spain says pirates have attacked a Spanish navy warship off Somalia, drawing gunfire that reportedly left one dead and prompted a helicopter chase in which six attackers were arrested. A Defense Ministry official says the assailants may have mistaken the 165-meter (540-foot) ship Patino for a freighter in the attack before dawn Thursday.

GREENBELT, Md. – A former U.S. Army soldier has been charged with attempting to provide material support to terror group al Shabaab, the Department of Justice announced Monday. Craig Benedict Baxam was arrested Friday upon return to his home state of Maryland after he was captured in Africa during an alleged attempt to reach Somalia, where the terror group is based. Baxam, 24, joined the Army in 2007 and served in Baghdad and Korea. During his enlistment, he completed eight months of advanced intelligence and cryptology training, the Justice Department said in a press release. According to court papers, Baxam...

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...

US Kidd sailor and Iranian sailor hug Amid growing tension between the US and Iran, the US Navy vessel U.S.S. Kidd rescued 13 Iranian sailors who were held captive by Somali pirates for more than 40 days. The dramatic rescue occurred just days after Iranian commanders ordered US navy ships not to return to the North Arabian Sea. The extraordinary rescue also follows President Obama’s signing of tough new sanctions against Iran, making it harder for Iran to sell its oil. The irony is not lost on the fact that in the midst of such an international crisis with...

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The Kenyan army said it killed 60 al-Shabaab militia fighters during an airstrike in Somalia. Col. Cyrus Oguna, an army spokesman, said another 20 of the militant Islamic fighters have defected in recent weeks, the BBC reported. "We will keep hitting them until their spine is completely broken ... and we will relish that moment," Oguna said. "The resistance from al-Shabaab is crumbling, there is division within the al-Shabaab leadership." Al-Shabaab leaders responded by promising to defeat the Kenyan army. The Kenyan military intervention was "rapidly rolling down a path towards an ignominious end...

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is firmly opposed to any international military intervention in Syria and has called for a negotiated settlement of the conflict through regional means, Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said on Sunday. "We have seen the disaster and turmoil brought by international military intervention in more than one place, be it Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia or any other place. So, we fully oppose the idea of any such intervention but are open to dialogue and regional endeavors to resolve the conflict and to stop the blood-shed in Syria," Ihsanoglu said. The OIC chief called for the reforms promised...

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...

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...

Rep. Keith Ellison's request to testify at Wednesday's House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Islamic radicalization was denied by Rep. Peter King, the committee chairman. Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, sent a letter to King on Monday asking that he could testify at Wednesday's hearing, which will address Al-Shabaab, a Somali terror group. King, a New York Republican, responded that Wednesday's hearing is an extension of the March hearing on Islamic radicalization where Ellison did testify. King wrote in a letter to Ellison that Al-Shabaab was a focus of the March hearing, and he asked that Ellison...

I got myself a Twitter account just four weeks ago. It seems that my fortunes have taken a turn for the worse, having me barely edge out al-Shabaab, Islamist terrorists’ recent cause célèbre, which logged its first tweet on December 7. Al-Shabaab, or “The Youth,” is a militant Islamist group with ties to al-Qaeda that has laid siege to much of southern Somalia since 2006. The group is persistently fighting (and winning) an insurgency against the United Nations-backed Transitional Federal Government, which is contained in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Still more pressingly, al-Shabaab has mounted attacks against African Union Mission in...

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,...

Somali officials said Friday they are pleading with U.S. authorities to persuade banks to reconsider a decision to block money transfers from Minnesota's Somali community to relatives in this Horn of Africa nation, where anarchy has given safe haven to an al-Qaida linked terror group. The institution that handles the bulk of money transfers from Minnesota to Somalia — Sunrise Community Banks — has said it will discontinue the service at the end of December over fears it could be at risk of violating government rules intended to clamp down on the financing of terror groups. Minnesota political leaders Rep....

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali pirates released an Italian-owned oil tanker and its 22 crew on Wednesday after receiving a multi-million dollar ransom, one of the pirates told Reuters. ... The ransom was dropped from an aircraft in two stages, according to a pirate speaking to Reuters by phone. "We have just received the remaining $3 million (1 million pounds) of the agreed $11.5 million ransom. We have abandoned the ship," a pirate calling himself Abdiwali said from Haradhere, one of the pirates' biggest coastal bases.

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote today (Monday) on whether to impose sanctions against Eritrea. A UN report earlier this year accused Asmara of plotting to bomb an African Union summit in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. The UN said most of those arrested in the plot received training and orders from Eritrean officers. The UN also says its Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea has documented evidence of Eritrean payments to individuals linked to the Islamic radical al-Shabab rebels in Somalia... The Security Council refused to delay today's planned vote after Eritrea asked for an extension to...

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...

PIRATES were arrested in the Seychelles – thanks to the Royal Marines. It happened after a Spanish trawler sent out a mayday call saying they were being attacked by a gang of seven. The marines, who were on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s Fort Victoria, flew in a ­helicopter to the ­fishermen’s aid. They fired warning shots at the Somali pirates, who were arrested. Lieutenant Alastair Thompson said: “The operation was superbly ­co-ordinated.” On Monday the supply ship, patrolling about 420 nautical miles from the Seychelles, received information that a Spanish fishing vessel had come under attack from a group of...

(Reuters) - New convoys of heavily-armed Ethiopian troops have crossed into Somalia and are heading for central areas, residents said Sunday, days after Addis Ababa said it planned to send troops to help Somali and Kenya forces fighting Islamist insurgents. Ethiopia, which intervened in Somalia between 2006 and 2009, said Friday that it would deploy troops inside Somalia again for a "brief period. An Ethiopian government official also acknowledged Friday that a small force was already there on a reconnaissance mission. Ethiopia had previously denied scores of military trucks and armoured vehicles had entered Somalia on November 19 and 20....

ROME — An Italian navy ship on Saturday came to the aid of a merchant vessel released by Somali pirates after over seven months in captivity, with news reports saying a ransom was dropped from a small plane. ... The 225-metre (738-foot) vessel belonging to Naples-based Perseveranza had been on its way from Brazil to Iran with a cargo of soybeans when it was seized by pirates off the coast of Oman on April 21 and taken back to Somalia. "In five or six days the crew will probably be back in Italy," Carlo Miccio, a representative of Perseveranza, told...

Ethiopia is being sucked back into Somalia to open another front against Islamist rebels battling Kenyan forces but even a military victory is unlikely to end two decades of anarchy unless the country's feuding politicians and clans want peace. A small Ethiopian contingent rolled across the border on November 19 and 20, although Addis Ababa has publicly denied its troops are there. They have revived bases used during its ill-fated 2006-2009 campaign to rid the anarchic country of hardline Islamist rebels. Regional leaders were meeting in the Ethiopian capital on Friday to discuss ways of supporting Kenya's campaign. Mogadishu has...

Ethiopian troops have crossed the border into Somalia in significant numbers, eyewitnesses say. They say they saw at least 20 vehicles carrying Ethiopian troops. A few hundred soldiers were seen in Gurel town in Galgudud region and there were other sightings around Beledweyne. Ethiopian authorities have denied the incursion. Their soldiers have not been in Somalia in large numbers since 2009 when they withdrew after a controversial three-year presence. These reports come as Kenyan troops continue their efforts to defeat fighters of the Islamist group al-Shabab in the south of Somalia.

The Arab League voted to suspend SyriaÂ’s membership at its meeting on Saturday and said it would impose economic and political sanctions against the regime of Bashar al-Assad as well as call for the withdrawal of Arab ambassadors from Damascus. The Arab foreign ministers meeting at the LeagueÂ’s headquarters in Cairo also called on the Syrian army to cease its involvement in the killing of civilians and invited the Syrian opposition for transition talks. Opponents of Assad were hoping that the Arab League would suspend SyriaÂ’s membership after Assad pressed ahead with a military crackdown on the unrest despite an...

MINNEAPOLIS - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is blasting two high-profile leaders in the metro Somali community as anti-Muslim ahead of a conference with police departments to discuss Somali culture -- and the public spat is testing the limits of tolerance. The controversial claim comes from a group that is no stranger to controversy itself, and the conflict centers over who speaks for the local Somali community, which is a complicated mesh of 15 separate groups with deep cultural and religious divides. "I'm not anti-Muslim," said Omar Jamal. "I'm anti-Islamic terrorism." Omar Jamal and Abdi Bihi were the first...

Claims that at least six Somali pirates were killed and three others were captured by the crew of the Greek owned MT Liquid Velvet chemical tanker which was hijacked last week, are up for debate due to infighting among pirates, according to several pirates who spoke to Somalia Report. “Six of our colleagues were killed by the hostages who escaped while the ship was coming to the coastal city of Harardhere in Mudug region. We will retaliate against our enemy,” said Abdi, a pirate. Abdi explained that the fighting broke out when the pirates were trying to search the pockets...

The Kenyan military says it is trying to incapacitate the militant Islamist group al-Shabab by targeting its financial and logistical operations in Somalia. Kenyan military officials say they are closing in on key al-Shabab targets, four weeks into military operations in Somalia. Kenyan Army spokesman, Emmanuel Chirchir, says one of the most important objectives of ‘Operation Linda Nchi’ is to take the southern Somali town of Afmadow. “We believe Afmadow is critical to al-Shabab's operations, one, because it provides facilities for money transfers and that of course provides opportunities to pay soldiers," he said. "So that's one of the critical...

TAIPEI — The crew of a Taiwanese fishing vessel fought against armed Somali pirates to retake their ship after it was hijacked off East Africa, Taiwan authorities said Sunday. The 290-tonne Chin Yi Wen with a crew of 28, including nine Chinese, eight Filipinos, six Indonesians and five Vietnamese, had been out of contact since Friday, the foreign ministry said. But the crew managed to overwhelm the six armed pirates and retake control of their ship. ... The Somali pirates fell into the sea, Tsay said, quoting the fishing boat owner, adding that details of the saga and the fate...

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...

Residents believe the attacks targeted mosques run by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels, blamed for a roadside bombing a few hours before that killed a prominent cleric who was also a senior Puntland government official. ... "It appears to be a declaration of religious war," Mohamed Ali Yusuf, a Puntland security official... Earlier Saturday, a prominent moderate Sufi cleric who was a senior official in Puntland's justice and religion ministry was killed in the city after a remote controlled bomb exploded near his car, hours before the first mosque attack. "I have no doubt that al Shabaab is responsible for...

The United States acknowledged Friday it was flying drones out of Ethiopia under a counter-terrorism campaign in the Horn of Africa but said the aircraft were unarmed and not carrying out raids. "The US has unarmed and unmanned aircraft at a facility there to be used only for surveillance as part of a broad, sustained integrated campaign to counter terrorism," Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby told AFP. "These unmanned aircraft are being used only for surveillance and not conducting strike missions." The Pentagon, the White House and the State Department confirmed the drone flights out of the airfield in Arba...

Minnesota Somalis said Sunday that they believe a man who made a tape posted by an al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group and then blew himself up in an attack on an African Union base in Mogadishu was a U.S. citizen from Minneapolis. The young man, who would be at least the fourth American and possibly the third Minnesotan to become a suicide bomber in Somalia, urges other young people not to "just chill all day" and instead fight nonbelievers around the world. The website Somalimemo.net, often used by the al-Shabab militia, said Somali-American bomber Abdisalan Taqabalahullaah had emigrated to the United...

One of two suicide bombers who blew themselves up during an attack on peacekeepers in Somalia was an American, the country's Islamist leadership claimed on Sunday. In a post on a Somali website popular with the al-Shabaab insurgency, Abdusalam al-Muhajir said that he left the US to fight with militants two years ago but now "wanted to die as a martyr". He and his accomplice disguised themselves as Somali government soldiers, allowing them to get close to an African Union position before troops there became suspicious and opened fire. The two men then detonated explosive vests they were wearing. At...

Mogadishu, Somalia - An al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group on Sunday posted a tape allegedly made by an American citizen who blew himself up during an attack on an African Union base in Somalia's capital that left at least 10 people dead. The young man, who would be at least the fourth American to become a suicide bomber in Somalia, urges other young people not to "just chill all day" and instead fight nonbelievers around the world.The website Somalimemo.net, often used by the al-Shabab militia, said Somali-American bomber Abdisalan Taqabalahullaah had emigrated to the U.S. when he was 2 years old.

British ships are to be allowed to carry armed guards to protect them from pirates, David Cameron has announced. A legal ban on weapon-toting protection staff will be relaxed so that firms can apply for a licence to have them on board in danger zones. The Prime Minister said radical action was required because the increasing ability of sea-borne Somali criminals to hijack and ransom ships had become "a complete stain on our world". ... Under the plans, the Home Secretary will be given the power to license vessels to carry armed security, including automatic weapons, currently prohibited under firearms...

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A team of suicide bombers and gunmen disguised as soldiers assaulted an African Union base in the Somali capital on Saturday, sparking a two-hour gunfight that left at least 10 people dead, security officials said. The al-Qaida-linked Islamist militant group that claimed the attack said one of the bombers was Somali-American. The attack underscored the militants' ability to carry out complex and deadly operations even after AU troops forced them from most of Mogadishu and a famine in their strongholds weakened their forces. Earlier this month, Kenya sent troops into Somalia following a string of cross-border...

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....

Two Kenyan jet fighters have crashed after colliding over southern Somalia, Press TV reports. The two fighter planes crashed between the towns of Kismayu and Qooqani, a Somali military officer told the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu on Tuesday. The jets were heading to the southern port city of Kismayu after targeting the positions of al-Shabab fighters in southern Somalia, the officer added. On Monday, a Kenyan jet bombed an al-Shabab base near the port in Kismayu, an al-Shabab stronghold. Kenyan troops began an air and ground offensive against al-Shabab in southern Somalia last week after Nairobi accused the militants...

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday pledged another $100 million in food aid to drought-hit East Africa amid warnings that millions of people face starvation, mostly in lawless Somalia. Despite tight foreign aid budgets, Clinton said that food security was a critical priority for President Barack Obama's administration whose "Feed the Future" initiative aims to address long-term reasons for global hunger. Clinton said that the administration would also boost immediate food assistance by adding to the $647 million it has already committed to address the crisis on the Horn of Africa. "I am pleased to announce...

NAIROBI, Kenya — Foreign military forces have joined the offensive against the Shabab militant group in Somalia as Kenyan troops advanced toward the rebel stronghold of Kismayu from two different directions, Kenya said Sunday. A Kenyan military spokesman, Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir, said that “one of the partners,” possibly the United States or France, had been behind airstrikes in the past few days, killing a number of Shabab militants. The French Navy has also shelled rebel positions from the sea, the Kenyan military said in a statement. Two senior American officials in Washington said Sunday that neither the United States military...

REPORTING FROM JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- A Somali militia linked to Al Qaeda claimed Thursday to have killed dozens of African Union soldiers in fighting in Mogadishu and displayed the bodies on the outskirts of the war-torn capital. If the claim is confirmed, it would represent the largest loss for the 9,000-member AU mission in Somalia since it began in 2007. And it would serve as a blunt warning of the Shabab militia’s capabilities, even as Kenyan soldiers press into its stronghold in famine-ravaged southern Somalia. ... Photographs circulating on the Internet showed the corpses of several dozen men in...