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MOGADISHU, Somalia - American special operations forces killed an al-Qaida terrorist during a helicopter commando assault in Somalia on Monday, NBC News reported. U.S. officials told NBC that Saleh Ali Nabhan, suspected in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2002 bombing of a resort hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, was killed when at least one U.S. special operations helicopter opened fire on a suspected al-Qaida convoy south of Mogadishu. Ali Nabhan was also suspected of operating al-Qaida training camps inside Somalia, NBC reported. Two men were killed and two others wounded when foreign troops in helicopters...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A top Al-Qaeda operative who figures high on an FBI list of wanted terror suspects was killed in a US military raid in southern Somalia Monday, a US official told AFP. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, named the dead man as Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan wanted for questioning for 2002 attacks in Mombasa on a hotel and an Israeli airliner. ABC news and Fox News, quoting US officials, said Nabhan was killed when at least one US helicopter fired on a convoy carrying suspected Al-Qaeda targets in southern Somalia earlier Monday. An American...

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MILITARY bases and navy ships will be turned into virtual fortresses under plans to beef-up security in the wake of a major terrorist plot. Taxi drivers and other members of the public will be banned from entering military bases without getting high-level clearance after an urgent review found Australia's frontline defence facilities were among the least protected in the world. The top-secret review also found Australia's top defence brass would be vulnerable to a terrorist strike and recommended their leafy military showpiece, at Duntroon in Canberra, be turned into a secure compound. Among sweeping reforms, the review calls for bases...

More Britons travel to Somalia for 'jihad': report (AFP) – 14 hours ago LONDON — Intelligence chiefs have warned British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government that Somalia is the next challenge in efforts to stem Islamic terrorism, a report said Sunday. The officials have warned that the number of young Britons travelling to Somalia to fight in the war-torn country or take part in "terror training camps" is rising, the Independent on Sunday said, citing unnamed sources. In particular, they are concerned about the number of people with no direct family connection to Somalia who are travelling there. The number...

Note: Photo included. http://images.publicradio.org/content/2009/09/11/20090911_troykastigar_39.JPG # SNIPPET: "St. Paul, Minn. — A sixth Minnesota man is feared dead in Somalia after joining an Islamic extremist group there. But Troy Kastigar stood out from his fellow recruits, because the Minneapolis man was not Somali. Kastigar, 28, was a Muslim convert who apparently had no personal ties to the lawless east African country. Troy Kastigar's family received reports of his death within the past week, according to friends of the family. The circumstances of his reported death aren't clear, and the information could not be confirmed by the FBI."

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali Islamic court hacked a hand each from two screaming men accused of theft and lashed another accused of rape on Wednesday, officials and a witness said, the latest in a series of harsh punishments that have elicited both admiration and revulsion from the war-weary population. A witness said two masked men carried out the amputations immediately after Sheik Abdibasit Mohamed, an Islamic judge in northern Mogadishu, pronounced the sentence in front of a crowd of around a hundred residents. The screaming victims had their hands hacked off by large knives on a wooden table dripping...

Tension is growing within the Minneapolis Somali community as it awaits the next indictments in the federal probe of the disappearances of young men who became fighters in their homeland's ongoing warfare. So far, three Somali men have pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges. Now several others -- who either know the men or were considering returning to their homeland to fight for a terrorist group -- are waiting to learn whether they, too, have been targeted by federal investigators. Stephen L. Smith, a Minneapolis attorney who has counseled up to 20 local Somalis questioned by federal agents over the past...

RADICAL Islamist al-Shabaab militants linked to al-Qa'ida and based in Somalia plotted to kill US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her trip to Africa last month, it was disclosed yesterday. A planned series of bomb attacks set to take place in Nairobi, the capital of neighbouring Kenya, while Mrs Clinton was there - one in the hotel where she was staying - was foiled at the last minute, media reports, citing senior security officials, said. "Al-Qa'ida wanted to strike at the heart of Nairobi (while Mrs Clinton was here)," the senior security official was quoted as saying, adding that...

A radical Islamic sect based in Somalia and linked to al-Qaida and based in Somalia plotted to kill US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her trip to Africa last month, according to The Australian newspaper. The plot was to be carried out through a planned series of bomb attacks set to take place in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya, while Clinton was there - one in the hotel where she was staying. The plot was foiled at the last minute, media reports, citing senior security officials, said. According to yesterday's reports, al-Shabaab, which is viewed as increasing regional...

A fifth Somali man from Minneapolis apparently has been killed in his war-ravaged homeland, a relative said Friday. Mohamoud Hassan, a 23-year-old former engineering student at the University of Minnesota, reportedly died in the past day or two. "It's real bad news," Hassan's uncle said Friday night. "But that is what happened." The uncle, who did not want to be identified, said he didn't know when Hassan was killed, but added that "it's very recent. Today or last night." The circumstances of Hassan's death were not immediately known. Abdirizak Bihi, a community activist who visited with Hassan's grandmother on Friday,...

Authorities have confirmed the first case of alleged Pakistani involvement with Somali pirates in a revelation that has raised concerns here about a possible link between piracy and suspected terrorist groups. On April 28, a Russian warship apprehended 12 Pak nationals — along with Somali pirates — for attempting to attack a tanker off Somalia’s coast. An investigation, sources said, pointed to Pak nationals having played a 'lead' role. Their nationality was confirmed through identity cards and “evidence” was handed over on May 8 to MSS Rehmat, a Pakistan Maritime Security Agency ship, 12 miles of Gwadar. It’s being examined...

A plan to create what could become the first recreation center in the country designed to comply with Muslim religious beliefs is gaining steam in the Twin Cities. The proposal for a $48 million Muslim Youth and Recreation Center comes from Somali Youth Action of Minnesota, a new nonprofit organization working to reduce youth violence. Early sketches of the project reveal separate swimming pools for men and women, separate exercise rooms, an indoor soccer field and a large multi-purpose room for weddings and other events. The group hasn't purchased land for the proposed center and is just starting to form...

The Somali enclave of Eastleigh in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, is now a recruiting and financial center for hardline Islamists fighting in neighboring Somalia. The streets of Eastleigh, a Somali enclave of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, are crowded and dirty. Sewage and rotting garbage flow through gullies. Police are virtually nonexistent; restaurants are locked, even when open, for safety reasons; and guns are readily available for sale at the market. No one ever said "Little Mogadishu" was paradise, but now the sprawling neighborhood has become a hub of financing and recruiting for militant Islamists waging holy war in neighboring Somalia, according to...

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A French security agent kidnapped by insurgents in Somalia last month was a free man Wednesday and under protection at the presidential palace, officials said. There were conflicting reports over whether the man escaped or was released and whether he had killed three of his captors. The fate of another French security agent kidnapped with him was not immediately clear. Farhan Asanyo, a Somali military officer, told The Associated Press that the man came up to government soldiers early Wednesday, identified himself and said he had escaped after killing three of his captors. -snip-

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A French security agent kidnapped by insurgents in Somalia has escaped, reportedly by killing three of his captors, Somali officials said Wednesday.

Somalia's president marked the beginning of Ramadan Saturday by calling for a truce with Islamic militants and talks to end the country's bloodshed. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed told VOA Saturday he believes peace and stability are attainable through dialogue, and he called on militants to lay down their weapons. Somalia's fragile transitional government is engaged in a fierce battle to regain large parts of the country from Islamist militants led by the al-Shabab group. In the capital of Mogadishu, heavy fighting between government forces and insurgents has killed at least 100 people since Thursday, many of them civilians. Residents...

Masked gunmen stormed a mosque Wednesday in western Somalia, killing at least five Pakistani Muslim clerics in a country already bloodied by an Islamic insurgency and where al-Qaida is believed to be gaining a foothold. Authorities tried to find out who carried out the execution-style murders, and why. The victims belonged to the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, Pakistan's foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit told The Associated Press in Islamabad. Some extremists, including shoe bomber Richard Reid, have been linked to the group but Tablighi Jamaat is believed to be apolitical and nonviolent. Some of its members travel the world,...

Four Christians working for an NGO that helps orphans in Somalia have been beheaded by Islamist extremist group al-Shabaab, according to the human rights watchdog International Christian Concern. The Christian orphanage workers were reportedly kidnapped on July 27 in the coastal Somali town of Marka, some 56 miles from Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab executed the four when they refused to convert to Islam, according to International Christian Concern. The reported executions come as residents of the town say the extremist group has been forcibly removing their gold and silver teeth using only rough tools and their hands, possibly to profit from the...

A young Somali man from the Twin Cities pleaded guilty this afternoon in U.S. District Court to lying to federal agents investigating the recruitment of up to 20 Somali Americans over the past two years to fight with a known terrorist group in their war-torn homeland. Kamal Said Hassan, 24, left Minneapolis for Somalia to train and fight with al-Shabaab, a Somali Islamist group that has been identified by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaida. Hassan returned to the U.S. last winter, apparently after having a change of heart about the mission, several Somali...

A prominent Minneapolis Somali community leader said Tuesday that he believes the recruitment of young Somali-Americans from the Twin Cities to fight jihad in their homeland has slowed or stopped. Speaking at a workshop to address the issue, Saeed Fahia, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Communities of Minnesota, said the radicalization of Somali youth here is "over." The combination of worldwide media and law enforcement scrutiny, coupled with greater vigilance by parents, has caused the recruiting pipeline here to dry up, he said. "It's come to a halt. People felt this has gone too far," Fahia said. "And...

Somali Islamists pull out gold teeth of 'sinners' REUTERS 11 August 2009, 12:32am IST MOGADISHU: Residents of a coastal town in southern Somalia are living by the skin of their teeth, quite literally. Somali Islamist group al Shabaab is forcibly removing gold and silver teeth from residents in southern Somalia because it says they contravene the strict law of Islam, residents said on Monday. Residents in Marka say al Shabaab has been rounding up anyone seen with a silver or gold tooth and taking them to a masked man who then rips them out using basic tools. "I never thought...

An Italian tugboat and its crew of 16, seized by Somali pirates four months ago, has been released. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini expressed his satisfaction at the outcome after months of negotiations. The Italian-flagged tugboat Buccaneer was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on April 11. On board was a crew of 10 Italians, 5 Romanians and one Croatian. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that the Somali prime minister informed him directly about the vessel's release and said it was the result of exceptional work on the part of Somalia authorities and Italian intelligence. Frattini said Italy was...

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged continued U.S. support for the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and called on Eritrea to halt interference in Somalia. Clinton appeared at a joint press conference at the U.S. Embassy August 6 following talks with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. She said the talks with the TFG leader were "a thorough and productive discussion about the challenges facing his country and the efforts of the international community to support the Transitional Federal Government as it stands up for the people of Somalia and against the threat of violent extremism." Clinton pledged continued...

Overnight gun-battles between rival clans in a pirate stronghold on the coast of Somalia have left at least 17 dead and 30 injured, reports say. Local residents in Haradheere fled as fighting, reportedly over land and the alleged rape of a woman, intensified. Pirates who operate in the area, a port off the shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia, said they were worried the conflict could affect their activities. Somalia, torn by civil war since 1991, lacks an effective central government. "The two clans are fighting over land and a girl who was raped in the forest," a local man,...

On July 14, in the lawless African nation of Somalia, two French men registered as journalists were eating breakfast at the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu. Heavily armed gunmen stormed the hotel. According to Reuters, they went room to room looking for the two men. After being located and abducted, the French citizens were turned over to al-Qaeda’s arm in Somalia, a group called al-Shabaab — this according to Lieutenant-Colonel Muhideen Ahmed, a Somalian police official. To date, they remain hostages. In a bizarre twist, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner went on record saying that the two men were actually posing...

A south Minneapolis business owner, accused of swindling travelers out of airline tickets, could now be part of an FBI investigation into missing Somali men, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned. Minneapolis Police arrested Ali Mohamud, 35, Thursday after he came back to Minnesota from out of state. He was charged in Hennepin County District Court with six counts of felony theft by swindle, accused of taking approximately $40,000 from at least a dozen travelers but either failing to book the airline tickets to the Middle East or Africa, or canceling the itineraries after they had been purchased and keeping the...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that the US will "take action" against Eritrea if it does not stop supporting militants in Somalia. She said after talks with Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, that Eritrea's actions were "unacceptable". She also said the US would expand support for Somalia's unity government. Eritrea denies supporting Somalia's al-Shabab militants, who are trying to overthrow Somalia's government. Al-Shabab is growing in strength and 250,000 Somalis have fled their homes in fighting between militants and government forces over the past three months.

Several Australian men have been arrested in a series of counter-terrorism raids across Melbourne after police uncovered a plot by Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaeda to mount a suicide attack on an Army base. Four men were under arrest this morning and several others were assisting police with inquiries after 400 police officers and members of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) swooped on 19 properties shortly before dawn. Authorities believe the group, of Somalian and Lebanese background, was at an advanced stage of preparing to storm an Army barracks in retaliation for Australia’s military involvement in Muslim countries. Members...

New details are emerging about the arrest in Kenya of three Dutch nationals and a Moroccan with Dutch residence status Monday near the Somali border. The men are accused of trying to aid Somalia's al-Qaida-linked extremist group, al-Shabab. Kenyan police say four 21-year-old men, three born in Morocco and the fourth in Somalia, were detained by authorities in the coastal town of Lamu, as they tried to reach the Kiunga area, about 15 kilometers from the border with Somalia. The men identified themselves as Dutch tourists. But police said there were no tourist sites where the men were found and...

In 1847, David Pacifico, a Jew who had been born in British-held Gibraltar and was therefore a British subject, had his house burned down in Athens by an anti-Semitic mob. The Greek government refused to protect him or provide any restitution. Lord Palmerston, Britain’s foreign secretary, sent the Royal Navy to blockade Greece until it paid Pacifico’s demands. Critics charged that Palmerston was overreacting. The House of Lords even voted to censure him. But in the House of Commons, Palmerston carried the day with a magnificent five-hour oration in which he declared: “As the Roman, in days of old, held...

Hundreds of police swooped on suspected terrorists in Melbourne early today amid fears suicide attacks were about to be launched on army bases in Australia. Police from around the country were quietly moved to Melbourne before launching their raids on homes in at least seven suburbs. Several men of Somali and Lebanese backgrounds were arrested and were expected to appear in court later on terrorism-related charges. Plot uncovered: A hooded terror suspect is driven to Melbourne police headquarters this morning Police sources said it would be claimed the men were planning to attack a barracks in western Sydney and other...

POLICE this morning arrested suspected Islamic extremists who they believe were plotting a suicide bomb attack on an army base in Sydney's west. Police swooped about 4.30am, executing 19 warrants on homes in the Melbourne suburbs of Glenroy, Carlton, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Westmeadows, Preston, Epping and Colac. The raids came after a suicide bomb plot by suspected Islamic extremists in Melbourne was uncovered.The group is thought to be linked to extremists in Somalia. Police believe the group was planning to launch an attack on Sydney's Holsworthy Barracks. The mass counter-terrorism operation, the second-largest ever in Australia, involved the...

(AP) — WASHINGTON - On a seven-nation tour of Africa this week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will pledge more U.S. assistance, including military aid, to Somalia's shaky government as it fights for survival against Islamist extremists. U.S. officials say the Obama administration plans to go ahead with additional weapons supplies to double an initial provision of 40 tons of arms. The U.S. also has begun a low-profile mission to help train Somali security forces in neighboring Djibouti, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities surrounding U.S. involvement in the program.

Anti-terrorist police officers arrested four Dutch nationals on suspicion they were crossing to southern Somalia to join the Al-Shabaab militia group. The Dutchmen, who were arrested at night in Kiwayu, Lamu District over the weekend, were taken to Mombasa and later flown to Nairobi for further interrogation. Lamu deputy police chief Stephen Limo said the foreigners travelled to Kiwayu by boat after a road journey from Nairobi to the Coast. Mr Limo said the four presented themselves as tourists but police doubted their travel documents prompting the arrest for further screening. Four tourists? "The four foreigners claimed they were tourists...

SNIPPET: "In some parts of the world it can be very dangerous to convert from Islam to Christianity, or any other faith. Sometimes Christians are killed by radical Muslims or sometimes by the state which sanctions death or prison. Somalia, like some other Muslim majority nations, clearly does not believe in religious freedom and the small Christian population faces an uphill struggle to survive. Therefore, it is essential to remember these martyrs because organizations like Al Qaeda would like to spread this tyranny to every nation." SNIPPET: "Turning back to Somalia it is now "open season" to kill Christian converts...

Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, pleaded guilty in federal court today to providing material support to terrorists, according to his attorney. Ahmed, a part-time security guard from Brooklyn Park, is accused of traveling to Somalia in December 2007, allegedly to train with al-Shabaab, an Islamic militant group that federal officials say has links to al-Qaida. Ahmed's attorney, James Ostgard, said late Monday night that his client will plead guilty to a single count -- providing material support to terrorists -- before U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum. In exchange for the guilty plea, Ostgard said three other counts will be dismissed at...

Attorneys for a Minnesota man accused of going to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants are expected to submit a plea agreement ahead of a Tuesday hearing in the case, according to court documents filed Monday. A federal grand jury indicted Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, on charges of providing material support to terrorists, lying to the FBI, and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim and injure. The indictment was handed up in February but kept under seal until this month, when Ahmed was arrested. The documents filed Monday call for attorneys to submit a plea agreement ahead of a Tuesday afternoon...

SNIPPET: "According to a report issued by Fund for Peace, Yemen is in the midst of a violent storm caused by the disappearance of the oil and gas reserves and the large flow of Somali refugees with connections to Al-Qaeda as well as the flow of extremists from Saudi Arabia. The report said that "the refugees and the extremists are the most significant imports by Yemen in 2008.""

SNIPPET: "The two main Islamist terror groups battling the weak Somali government may merge into a single outfit. Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of Hizbul Islam or the Party of Islam, said he is working to unite his faction with Shabaab, an al Qaeda-backed Islamic terror group that has lobbied to join the international terrorist organization. Aweys said talks were proceeding and urged followers to continue to fight until they achieve "victory over enemies" of Islam."" SNIPPET: "Al Qaeda has increasingly focused on Somalia as being a major theater in their efforts to drive the West from African, the...

Law Of The Sea: The U.S. seeks U.N. authorization to fight Somali pirates from the air, on land and at sea. When American cruise ships become targets, maybe it's time to renew a proud tradition: Send in the Marines.On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally presented to a special U.N. session on Somalia a draft Security Council resolution saying that member states fighting against piracy "may take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia, including its airspace, to interdict those who are using Somali territory to plan, facilitate or undertake acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea and to...

It is a sobering time for the world’s most fragile countries—virulent economic crisis, countless natural disasters, and government collapse. This year, we delve deeper than ever into just what went wrong—and who is to blame. Yemen may not yet be front-page news, but it’s being watched intently these days in capitals worldwide. A perfect storm of state failure is now brewing there: disappearing oil and water reserves; a mob of migrants, some allegedly with al Qaeda ties, flooding in from Somalia, the failed state next door; and a weak government increasingly unable to keep things running. Many worry Yemen is...

Over the past months, the narrative of Washington's "new direction" in world affairs blurred the clarity of the confrontation with the terror forces worldwide. Are we at conflict with a global threat? The administration, insisting on treating the issue locally, claimed otherwise. But during President Barack Obama’s July 11 speech in Accra, he said that "when there's a genocide in Darfur or terrorists in Somalia, these are not simply African problems — they are global security challenges, and they demand a global response." This zigzag between local and global risk is confusing not only to the public but to strategists...

MINNEAPOLIS — Ahmednur Ali's family fled the chaos and violence of their East African homeland Somalia in the 1990s, eventually making their way to Minnesota like thousands of their compatriots. While many of the estimated 32,000 Somalis who settled in the state have struggled to adapt, Ali flourished. By age 20, he had blazed a path to Minneapolis' Augsburg College, where he played soccer, studied political science and aspired to a political career modeled on President Barack Obama's. He was shot and killed last September outside a busy community center where he worked part-time as a youth counselor, and prosecutors...

In the past I have posted articles about Somalians in America attacking medical workers and throwing rocks at a homosexual. Expect this violence to rise as they are now forming gangs in Minneapolis. Immigration built this country but endless mass immigration is destroying it.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Ahmednur Ali's family fled the chaos and violence of their West African homeland Somalia in the 1990s, eventually making their way to Minnesota like thousands of their compatriots. While many of the estimated 32,000 Somalis who settled in the state have struggled to adapt, Ali flourished, blazing a path to Minneapolis' Augsburg College on a soccer scholarship by age 20. He studied political science and aspired to a political career modeled on President Barack Obama's. He was shot and killed last September outside a busy community center where he worked part-time as a youth counselor, and prosecutors...

SOMALI pirates fired in the air in jubilation after receiving a $1.8 million ransom in exchange for the release of a German-owned vessel and its 11-member crew. Somali sea gangs, operating in the strategic shipping lanes linking Asia and Europe, have made millions of dollars in ransom from hijacking vessels in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden. "We have taken a $1.8 million ransom and released the German ship," pirate Ahmed said from a lair in the town of Eyl on the Somali coast. The 146-metre MV Victoria, an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo vessel, was hijacked by eight pirates...

Two French agents held by rebels in Somalia will be tried soon under Islam's Sharia law, an official of the radical Shebab group told AFP, as a Somali minister said they had been taken out of Mogadishu and expressed concern for their safety. "The men were caught assisting the apostate government and their spies, so that they will soon be tried and punished under the Sharia law, they will face the justice court for spying and entering Somalia to assist the enemy of Allah," a senior Shebab officer told AFP on condition of anonymity. "The decision about their fate will...

St. Paul, Minn. — Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison said the U.S. government is trying to ensure the safe return of some of the young Somali-American men believed to be fighting with a terrorist group in their homeland. Ellison said he has been included in classified briefings about efforts to bring the missing men back to the Twin Cities. At least four Somali-American men from Minnesota who left to fight in the Horn of Africa have died there in recent months. One of youngest, a skinny teenager from Minneapolis named Burhan Hassan, was trying to leave the fighting and make his...

omali pirates have released a German-owned cargo ship held for nearly three months and its crew of 11 Romanians. The pirates said a ransom of $1.8m (£1.1m) was paid. Reports say they fired in the air in jubilation when the money was delivered in a tugboat. The ship - the MV Victoria - was captured in May in the Gulf of Aden, south of the Yemeni port of al-Mukalla. Pirates attacked more than 130 merchant ships off the Somali coast last year, taking in millions in ransom payments. Another German ship, the Hansa Stavanger, is still being held. It was...