Al-Shabab Headquarters 'Attacked' By Western Forces On Coast Of Somalia

Al-Shabab Militant Base 'Attacked' On Coast Of Somalia -- BBC

Islamist fighters in southern Somalia say Western forces have launched a night-time raid on one of their bases.

The militant group al-Shebab told the BBC "white soldiers" had arrived by boat at the port of Barawe and rebels had repulsed them, losing a fighter.

No-one has admitted the attack. US and French special forces have carried out raids in Somalia in recent years.

It is not clear whether it is linked to last month's attack in neighbouring Kenya, which al-Shebab has claimed.

At least 67 people were killed after militants stormed the Westgate shopping centre in the capital, Nairobi, on 21 September.

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More News On Reports That Al-Shabab Headquarters Was 'Attacked' By Western Forces

Somali militants say 'Western' forces attack coastal base from beach -- Reuters
'Western special forces' raid al-Shabaab stronghold in Somalia -- The Telegraph
Foreign military raid al-Shabaab headquarters in Somalia, reports say -- The Guardian
Military strike reported in southern Somali town -- USA Today/AP
Somalia's Al-Shabab Says Special Forces Attack One Of Its Bases -- Radio Free Europe
Unidentified Military Strike Targets Somali Town -- Voice of America
Somali group says 'Westerners' attacked base -- Al Jazeera
Somalia’s al-Shabaab claims ‘Westerners’ attacked base -- Al Arabiya

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How Al Shabaab Makes Money To Stay Active

Al-Shabaab Backed By Money From U.S. -- Peter Bergen and David Sterman, CNN

(CNN) -- After the attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya, substantial attention was given to the some 40 Americans who have traveled to fight for Al-Shabaab in Somalia during the past several years.

But much less attention has focused on Al-Shabaab's supporters in the United States who have helped to fund the terrorist group. Those supporters have funneled tens of thousands of dollars via money transfer businesses to the terrorist organization and have often maintained direct contact with Al-Shabaab leaders and fighters in Somalia.

After the 9/11 attacks, when it became clear to investigators that al Qaeda's deadly assaults on New York and Washington had cost as much as $500,000 to mount, the U.S. government became far more aggressive about trying to block funds going to terrorist organizations.

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Update: Somali Militants Mixing Business and Terror -- New York Times

My Comment:  Money is the driving force of all groups and institutions .... cutting this flow will result in groups like al Shabaab dying on the vine.

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CIA And FBI Scramble To Thwart The Shabaab

After Kenya Mall Attack, CIA And FBI Scramble To Thwart The Shabab -- L.A. Times

U.S. intelligence officials are trying to determine who carried out the siege of the Westgate mall in Nairobi and how.

WASHINGTON — The CIA is adding operatives and resources to focus on the Somalia-based militant group the Shabab as the FBI sends scores of agents to help examine evidence taken from the rubble of the shopping mall massacre in Nairobi, U.S. officials say.

The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation, while the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies are mining electronic data and quizzing informants in an effort to determine whether the Al Qaeda-linked group is planning new attacks, including any against U.S. facilities or interests.

The CIA's counter-terrorism center has several analysts and operatives who work full time on the Shabab, but they had detected no sign that the audacious attack in Kenya's capital was being planned. The center will add experts to step up collection and analysis of intelligence on the group's leaders and operations.

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My Comment: Expect drone strikes in the next few months to escalate and expand in Somalia. On a side note .... US intelligence is stating that they had no prior knowledge that a terrorist attack was being planned by these al Shabaab terrorists .... but according to the Independent warnings were issued but no one was listening ....

.... Kenya’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS), widely accused by politicians of failing to pick up chatter about the attack, has insisted it did warn the police and officials inside the President’s office before the Westgate siege, but its warnings went unheeded, The Star reported.

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Al Shabaab Warns Of More Strikes In The Future

Al-Shabab Leader’s Ambitions Appear To Be As Complex As His Personality -- Washington Post

NAIROBI — The alleged Somali mastermind of the assault on a posh mall that killed scores and jolted Kenya is a man of contradictions.

Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, known as Godane, is bookish, eloquent in both Arabic and Somali, recites poetry and is known to quote from obscure academic journals, analysts say. Yet he trained and fought in Afghanistan for the jihadist cause and has ruthlessly killed most of his rivals to seize control of al-Shabab, a Somali militia linked to al-Qaeda that has asserted responsibility for the mall attack.

Al-Shabab has said the attack, which began Saturday, was revenge for Kenya sending troops into Somalia. But the carnage had just as much to do with the struggles inside the militia and Godane’s desire to make al-Shabab — and himself – stronger and more relevant in the global jihad against the United States and its allies, according to analysts.

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More News On Al Shabaab Issuing Warnings Of Future Attacks

Al-Shabab leader vows '€œlong war'€ against Kenya -- Al Jazeera
Al Shabaab leader confirms group attacked Kenyan mall, warns of more strikes -- Reuters
Kenya mall attack group al-Shabaab threatens 'long-lasting war, blood, destruction' -- NBC
Al-Shabaab Leader Ties Timing of Mall Attack to 9/11 Anniversary -- PJ Media
Al Shabaab’s war with Kenya: terrorist group ‘may have even surprised itself’ -- Euronews
Kenya: Mall Attack Shows Al-Shabab Still Potent Force -- AllAfrica.com
Ruthless leader aims to extend reach of Al-Shabaab, eyes the West -- CNN
Al Shabaab’s Global Menace -- Wall Street Journal

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Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud: Al-Shabab Could Attack The United States

Photo: Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Wikipedia

Somalia President: Al-Shabab Could Attack the United States -- Josh Rogin, The Daily Beast

The president of Somalia—hub of the terrorist group of that claims credit for this week’s mall attack in Nairobi—says the U.S. could be a target, too. He tells Josh Rogin what the world needs to do to stop them.

The Somali-based terrorist organization al-Shabab, which claimed credit for the devastating attack in Nairobi this week, is an international organization that could attack anywhere, including the United States, according to the president of Somalia.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was in Washington this past weekend when a group of attackers stormed the Westgate shopping center in the Kenyan capital and took hostages in a siege that ultimately left at least 72 dead and 170 injured. Mohamud, who has been leading the fight to push al-Shabab from its territory inside Somalia since he became president last year, gave his take on the organization, its structure, its funding, and what the world needs to do to stop it in an interview this week with The Daily Beast. His main message was that al-Shabab is foreign-financed, filled with foreign fighters, and has wide international reach.

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My Comment: The Somali President is right on this point ....

.... “Shabab is an ideology, it’s not a citizenship, it’s not an ethnic group. And anyone who belongs to that ideology is an enemy of Somalia,” he said.

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Will Al-Shabaab Emerge Stronger After Their Nairobi Mall Attack?

Al-Shabaab Will Emerge Stronger After Nairobi Mall Attack, Warns Analyst -- The Guardian

Islamists want to provoke Kenyan security forces in order to win Somalis' support in city, suggests counter-insurgency adviser

The Somalia-based Islamist group known as al-Shabaab will emerge stronger and more unified after its terrorist attack in Nairobi, and could provide other extreme groups with an example to follow, counter-insurgency analysts warned on Tuesday.

Al-Shabaab's message is that it is "down but not out", it is "losing territory but not people", said David Kilcullen, a former adviser to David Petraeus, then US commander in Iraq, and of Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The purpose of the Westgate mall attack was to send Kenyans a message – it was the consequence of sending troops to Somalia, said Kilcullen, who was in London to launch his book Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla.

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My Comment: This is the big fear .... that al Shabaab will emerge "bigger and stronger" in the eyes of it's supporters and future recruits .... thereby reversing their losing situation in Somalia. As to what is my take .... I am skeptical that such will be the case .... what I do see are African nations and western intelligence services expanding their targeting of al Shabaab leaders and top commanders for drone strikes and/or special forces operations.

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al Shabaab Militants Post Their First Photo Of 'Nairobi Mall Attackers'

Jihadist Networks Share First Photo Of 'Nairobi Mall Attackers' -- France 24

This photo, which allegedly shows two of the men who attacked Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, is being circulated online by jihadist networks. It is the first photo to allegedly show a clear view of the attackers. Somalia-based militan group Al Shabab, which is linked to al Qaeda, has taken responsibility for the attack.

The floor tiles in this image clearly match those of Westgate shopping mall, captured in photos by numerous photographers, including this one from the Times of London:

The photo was first spotted Monday on Twitter accounts purporting to be run by al Shabab militants (who call themselves “media soldiers”), which have popped up, been shut down, and reopened under new names numerous times since the start of the siege. This makes it impossible to track the first instance in which the image was posted.

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My Comment: I am surprised that al Shabaab's Twitter account is still active .... that link is here.

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Kenyan Officials Are Reporting That The British 'White Widow' Been Killed In Final Assault On Kenyan Shopping Mall?

Terror link: Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, originally from Buckinghamshire, was described as a 'brave lady' by Islamist terror group Al Shabaab

Has British 'White Widow' Been Killed In Final Assault On Kenyan Shopping Mall? Officials Say Body Of White Woman Terrorist Found At Scene -- Daily Mail

* Samantha Lewthwaite, widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, wanted by Kenyan police on a string of terror charges
* Westgate Shopping Centre on fire amid fears that terrorists have carried out suicide bomb attack
* Al Shabaab militants tweeted that they have 'executed two Britons point blank' inside bank vault
* Architect Ross Langdon, who had dual Australian and British nationality, is confirmed among the dead
* His Harvard-educated girlfriend Elif Yavuz was also killed. She was two weeks away from giving birth
* British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said six British nationals have died in the attack, and number could rise.
* Kenyan government says two militants have died in battle to retake the building
* Claims that five of the attackers are American and two are British
* Kenyan military official says terrorists are a 'multinational collection from all over the world'
* Kenyan official reveals he suspects the involvement of fugitive 7/7 'white widow' Samantha Lewthwaite
* Men, women and children slaughtered if they could not recite Koran or name Prophet Mohammed's mother
* Terrorists told French citizen 'they want to kill Kenyans and Americans'

A dead white woman has been found among Islamic terrorists killed by soldiers as they stormed the mall where 62 shoppers were slaughtered this weekend, Kenyan officials said.

The claim, made by three sources to news agency Reuters, will fuel speculation that the dead woman is Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay, who is wanted by Kenyan police on a string of terror charges. Police will also investigate the possibility that she is a hostage dressed in one of the terrorist's clothes.

Asked if it was Lewthwaite, dubbed the 'White Widow', an intelligence officer said: 'We don't know.'

Moments after the news broke, Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda affiliated terror group behind the massacre at Nairobi's Westgate Shopping Centre, used their Twitter feed to claim that Lewthwaite was safe.

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More News On The 'White Widow' Samantha Lewthwaite

White widow claims intensify amid reports a white woman terrorist was killed in Kenya attack -- The Telegraph
‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite may be behind Kenya shopping mall massacre and could be among the dead terrorists -- New York Daily News
The 'White Widow' revealed: Bright English girl who married a 7/7 bomber and became top al-Qaeda paymaster -- Mirror.com
'White Widow' Samantha Lewthwaite feared to be behind Nairobi shopping mall massacre -- Mirror
‘White Widow’ jihadi may have taken part in Kenya mall massacre -- New York Post
Who is the ‘White Widow’ Samantha Lewthwaite? -- Independent.ie
Why the White Widow is prime suspect: Kenyan anti-terror police believe British woman, 29, may be behind mall massacre -- Daily Mail
Samantha Lewthwaite: Is 'White Widow' behind Kenya mall attack? -- David Scott, Christian Science Monitor

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Who And What Is Al Shabaab

Al-Shabab: An al Qaeda-Linked Group "On The Move" And Turning To Global Jihad -- CBS

(CBS News) As the terror attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenyaentered its third day, the U.S. State Department confirmed that five Americans were wounded in the shopping complex.

CBS News special correspondent John Miller, a former assistant director at the FBI, said on "CBS This Morning" that the unfolding attack sheds new light on the relatively young al Qaeda-linked terrorist group's evolving mission.

Al-Shabab, which means "youth" in Arabic, was established in 2006 as a militant wing of the Islamic fundamentalist forces that controlled parts of Somalia at the time. Its stated mission was to bring Islamic sharia law to Somalia and topple the government.

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More News On Al Shabaab

Factbox: Al Shabaab retaliates in Kenya for army offensives in Somalia -- Reuters
Kenya Mall Carnage Shows Shabab Resilience -- New York Times
The Militant Group Behind the Kenya Mall Attack Is Live-Tweeting the Massacre -- Slate
Factbox: All you need to know about al-Shabab -- AP/Reuters/SBS
Terror in Nairobi: Behind al-Shabab’s war with Kenya -- Time
Al-Shabaab: the rise of a youth-led Islamist movement -- The Guardian
A primer on al-Shabaab, the extremist group behind the Kenyan massacre -- AP
Kenya attack is product of brutal power struggle within al-Shabaab (commentary) -- The Guardian
A new source of terror: who are al-Shabab? -- Sydney Morning Herald
Al-Shabab: A look at the group claiming responsibility for Kenyan mall attack -- CTV
Who are al Shabab, the Islamist terror group that attacked -- First Post
Q&A on Kenya Terrorist Attack and Al-Shabaab -- Heritage Foundation
What is Al Shabaab and what are the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group's motives? -- ABC News (Australia)
How Al-Shabaab picks its targets -- Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst
10 things to know about Somali militants al-Shabab -- NBC
Al-Shabaab grew amid Somalia's lawlessness -- Tom Watkins, CNN
We are losing fight against al-Shabaab -- Katherine Zimmerman, Special to CNN
Q&A: Who are Somalia's al-Shabab? -- BBC

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Kenyan Terror Raid 'Led By White Widow'

Photo: Terror link: Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, originally from Buckinghamshire, was described as a 'brave lady' by Islamist terror group Al Shabaab

Terror Raid 'Led By White Widow': Gang Mastermind In Veil Barked Orders At Gunmen In Mall Massacre That Left three Britons Dead -- Daily Mail

* Kenyan official reveals he suspects the involvement of fugitive 7/7 'white widow' Samantha Lewthwaite
* UK death toll expected to rise following Saturday's attack at Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, Kenya
* Men, women and children slaughtered if they could not recite Koran or name Prophet Mohammed's mother
* Terror group Al Shabaab posts names online of some of 15 'holy warriors' who it says carried out attack
* Al Shabaab claims two British men from London, Liban Adam and Ahmed Nasir Shirdoon, were involved

The terror attack on a Kenyan shopping centre that has left 68 dead was being led by the white English widow of a 7/7 bomber, it was claimed last night.

Soldiers said a white woman wearing a veil was shouting orders to gunmen in Arabic during the bloody massacre inside the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi.

Islamist terror group Al Shabaab claimed it carried out the atrocity in which three Britons were killed and 175 people were left injured.

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My Comment: Everyone is speculating on who is responsible for this weekends atrocities in Nairobi .... I say wait until the siege is over and the bodies and prisoners are retrieved.

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Are Americans Involved In This Weekends Terror Attack On The Westgate Mall In Nairobi?

Al-Shabaab Claims Americans Are Among Kenya Terrorists -- Arutz Sheva

Somali-based terror group tweeted the names of Americans it claimed took part in the attack on a mall in Nairobi.

Al-Shabaab claimed on Sunday that there were American terrorists among those who were holed up in the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in a standoff with special forces.

According to PJ Media, the Somali Al-Qaeda affiliate tweeted a series of names on its latest Twitter account before it was suspended by the social networking site.

Al-Shabaab has been creating new accounts each time they get shut down but a movement of pro-Kenyan tweeters has been tracking down the new accounts and complaining to Twitter, the report said.

“We received permission to disclose the names of our mujahideen inside #Westgate,” their latest account tweeted.

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Update #1: Peter King says al-Shabaab terror group recruited Somali Americans -- The Guardian
Update #2: Terror Group That Claimed Kenya Attack Has Recruited Americans Before -- ABC News
Update #3: 'Most of the hostages' rescued from Kenyan mall siege as FBI begins investigating claims of Americans' involvement -- NBC

My Comment: What gets me about this story is that Al Shabaab is bragging about it.

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The Rise Of al-Shabaab

Nairobi Mall Attack Signals The Rise Of al-Shabaab -- Eli Lake, The Daily Beast

Al Qaeda’s Somalian affiliate has suffered major setbacks in its own country, but its deadly attack on a mall in Kenya Saturday shows its reach is widening. Eli Lake reports.

Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Somalia has suffered major setbacks in that country in the last year and a half. Saturday’s horrific attack on an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya shows al-Shabaab is not only alive but is capable of sowing mayhem outside the borders of the country it has fought over for nearly a decade.

The military-style assault Saturday at the Westlake Shopping mall in Nairobi was the first major al-Shabaab attack outside of Somalia since 2010 when the group set off bombs at multiple locations in Kampala, Uganda, killing more than 70 people who had gathered to watch the world cup.

Since then, al-Shabaab and its supporters have launched cross-border raids and smaller attacks inside Kenya, a country that has trained and supported Somali fighters aligned with the country’s weak interim government. In this same period, though, the group has lost its base of operations in southern Somalia. The last strong hold for al-Shabaab fell in October 2012 when Somali government forces, along with African Union peacekeepers, drove al-Shabaab out of its last safe haven in the port city of Kismayo.

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My Comment: Al Shabaab is definitely not dead.

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