Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 23:43:34 +0200
US "Counter-Terrorism" in Somalia: Alleged Al-Shabaab Bomb Attack against
African Union Mission (AMISOM), Four U.S. Personnel Killed
Al-Shabaab claims responsibility after leader was assassinated by Pentagon
airstrike
By <http://www.globalresearch.ca/author/abayomi-azikiwe> Abayomi Azikiwe
Global Research, September 10, 2014
The attack was the first major response in the aftermath of the Pentagon
airstrike on a leadership meeting of the Al-Shabaab Islamic resistance
movement which has been fighting since early 2008 against the western-backed
Somalia Federal Government based in the capital of Mogadishu.
In the U.S. military attack on Sept. 1, the leader of Al-Shabaab, Ahmed Abdi
Godane, was killed along with several other high-ranking officials of the
organization. President Barack Obama took responsibility for the deaths
saying they were part of the ongoing war against terrorism in the Horn of
Africa.
Godane had been placed on a most-wanted list by the U.S. State Department
offering $7 million for his capture or death. Other leading Al-Shabaab
officials also have huge bounties placed on their heads by Washington.
A spokesman for al-Shabaab said the target of the attack was a U.S. military
commander who trains Special Forces in Mogadishu. "We succeeded in killing
him and three other Americans. Also a South African mercenary died in the
attack." Abduaziz Abu Muscab told Al Jazeera.
The al-Shabaab spokesman went on to say that the operation "was in
retaliation for the killing of our leader. This is not going to be the last
attack targeting Americans." Abu Muscab said.
At least three AMISOM officers and two U.S. personnel working for the
Bancroft Global Development firm which performs consultation services for
the AMISOM forces were wounded in the attacks. This company, according to an
article published in 2011 in the New York Times, trains AMISOM military
forces in Somalia.
This NYT article noted that "The company plays a vital part in the conflict
now raging inside Somalia, a country that has been effectively ungoverned
and mired in chaos for years. The fight against the Shabaab, a group that
United States officials fear could someday carry out strikes against the
West, has mostly been outsourced to African soldiers and private companies
out of reluctance to send American troops back into a country they hastily
exited nearly two decades ago." (Aug. 10, 2011)
AMISOM Trained, Financed by U.S.-EU to Bolster Federal Government
This attack on Sept. 8 further exposes the role of the Pentagon, the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the State Department in Somalia. A weak
federal government established by Washington and maintained through a
coalition of imperialist states and their allies in the region, would
collapse overnight if it was not for the support of the White House.
AMISOM consists of approximately 22,000 troops from various African
neo-colonial states including Uganda, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Djibouti,
Ethiopia and Kenya. Although AMISOM and the federal government claims that
it has pushed Al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu, the guerrilla organization has
been able to strike inside the capital on several occasions over the last
few months.
The training and coordination of the AMISOM forces along with the
newly-created Somalia Federal Army is carried out by the Pentagon, private
military consultancy firms and officers from the European Union Forces
(EUFOR). A flotilla of warships from the Pentagon and EUFOR Naval units are
stationed off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden.
With specific reference to the Sept. 8 attacks, one person on the scene
reported that he "saw two minibuses with pools of blood, many civilians were
killed," said Ali Muhidin. "The explosion was enormous." (AFP, Sept. 8)
One Somalian governmental official, Governor Abdikadir Mohamed Nur of Lower
Shabelle, said he survived the attack. He told the press that "Most of those
killed were civilians traveling in two mini buses who were caught in the
explosion. We have also collected 27 wounded civilians including women."
(Raxanreeb.com, Sept. 8)
Nur went on to report that "As we were passing a bus stop at Hawa Abdi area,
a small vehicle drove to us, we did not think it could be a suicide car
bomber. It stopped between two mini buses as we continued. But immediately
the car drove toward us and blew up."
In a separate military operation, also claimed by al-Shabaab, Somalia
government soldiers were attacked in Elasha Biyaha located 15km outside the
capital.
U.S. Has History of Interference in Somalia
This is not the first time that Washington has engaged in offensive military
operations in Somalia. In the current period since early 2007, the U.S. has
carried out bombing operations in Somalia on numerous occasions.
The CIA has a field station in Mogadishu which is utilized to engage in
counter-insurgency operations in Somalia and throughout the region. CIA and
Pentagon drone operations are conducted from Somalia and extend throughout
the Horn of Africa region utilizing Ethiopia and Djibouti, where the U.S.
Africa Command (AFRICOM) maintains a military base housing several thousand
troops.
Since the failed occupation of Somalia by the U.S. Marines during 1992-1994,
resulting in the deaths of dozens of Pentagon troops as well as thousands of
local citizens, Washington has continued to interfere in the internal
affairs of the country. Recent oil drilling by several leading
multi-national petroleum firms underlies one of the real reasons behind
imperialism interests in the region.
Nonetheless, despite this heavy military presence by the Pentagon, the CIA
and allied African states along with the EU, the situation inside of Somalia
remains unstable. Al-Shabaab still has significant support and named a new
leader on Sept. 6.
The new leader, Ahmed Omar, also known as Abu Ubaidah, was selected
unanimously at an undisclosed location outside of Mogadishu. Ubaidah pledged
to avenge the death of Godane and the other officials by continuing the war
against the U.S.-backed military and intelligence forces now occupying the
country.
map of somalia globalresearch.ca
A reported car-bomb rammed into a convoy of troops from the African Union
Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) on Sept. 8 killing at least twelve people
including four from the United States.
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