Somali Al-Shabaab in show of military might
By ABDULKADIR KHALIF in MogadishuPosted Wednesday, November 9 2011 at 13:48
Militants loyal to the radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab put up a dramatic show to demonstrate their military might to the residents of Marka town, the capital of Lower Shabelle region,110km south of Mogadishu.
Using loud speakers and minibuses, the group opposing the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia, invited the residents to come out and watch their big military show.
Speedboats mounted with automatic machineguns moved along the coastal waters freely.
According to witnesses who requested anonymity for security reasons, the speeding boats sailed on the Indian Ocean in single and double files.
Al-Shabaab officials who addressed the crowd reportedly said that the fanatical Islamists were in a position to defend the waters of their stronghold in southern Somalia.
The militants appeared to be reacting to reports that the Kenyan Navy was joining the military campaign against Al-Shabaab, especially in the Juba region, including the main port town of Kismayu, 500km south of Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab militants also demonstrated military prowess on land by moving around battle wagons mounted with machineguns and masked loyalists wielding assault rifles, while riding motorbikes.
“Our forces are ready to defeat any aggressor,” said an Al-Shabaab official whose name was not declared while talking to hundreds of town dwellers as the hooded militants paraded.
According to some reports, the crowd fled the scene after one of the Al-Shabaab motorbike riders lost control and killed a boy and injured several other people.
*Schools and mosques*
In southern Somalia, Al-Shabaab was facing a tough challenge from the TFG forces and Ras Kamboni Brigade that are supported by Kenyan troops that crossed the border in mid-October.
The Kenyans are reportedly in hot pursuit of the radical Islamists, accusing them of being responsible of the kidnapping of foreigners, including tourists and aid workers.
Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, trough a press statement, for a series of grenade attacks on the residences of Somali Government officials and positions of the TFG forces in Mogadishu.
An attack on the residence of a former minister of Justice, Sheikh Abdurahman Farah Janaqow, in south Mogadishu, killed several couple of people and wounded many others.
No report of the whereabouts of the legislator were forthcoming, but he was not identified as one of the casualties.
Other grenade attacks targeted the residence of Mr Ahmed Hassan Addow alias Ahmed Da’ie, the District Commissioner of Wadajir in southern Mogadishu.
Another attack occurred at Fagah, an important checkpoint in Karan District in north Mogadishu.
Since last August, Al-Shabaab leaders have repeatedly declared that the movement had modified its war tactics against the TFG and the peacekeepers serving the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
The new tactics are widely assumed to include hit-and-run assaults, assassination, grenade hurling, landmine explosions and suicide missions.
The new development has instilled fear in the general public as the targets include government officials operating in public places such as markets, schools and mosques.
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