Reuters, 7 April 2010: At least 12 al Qaeda members have crossed from Yemen into Somalia in the last two weeks, bringing money and military expertise to Somali rebels battling the Western-backed government, a senior Somali official said.
Somalia’s al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels are waging a deadly insurgency against the transitional government headed by a former rebel and are intent on imposing a harsh version of Sharia Islamic law throughout the war-ravaged nation.
A smaller group — Hizbul Islam — which has an alliance with al Shabaab in Mogadishu, expressed its loyalty to al Qaeda on Wednesday for the first time and invited Osama bin Laden to Somalia. . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 268–Jihadi Strategies in Africa
BBC, 7 April 2010: Radio stations broadcasting out of Somalia face a dilemma this month after a powerful Islamist militant group ordered them to stop playing music. Saying that the playing of music was un-Islamic, Hizbul-Islam announced on Saturday that stations had 10 days to take it off air. . . .
. . . . Somalis have to be more discreet about music in non-government areas. Al-Shabab, the country’s other big militant group, are known for their own strict interpretation of Islam, frowning on music and cinema. “You can see drivers on passenger buses playing music inside the government-controlled area, then turning it off when they cross into non-government territory,” our reporter says. Pop music is genuinely popular in Mogadishu and many people resent being “bullied” into what they can hear on the radio, he adds. Hizbul-Islam would have all music, right down to the jingles, taken off air, he says. . . . .
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“Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious. Islam does not allow swimming in the sea and is opposed to radio and television serials.”– Ayatollah Khomeini
New York Times, 23 March 2010: For the past three years, the Shabab, one of Africa’s most fearsome militant Islamist groups, have been terrorizing the Somali public, chopping off hands, stoning people to death and banning TV, music and even bras in their quest to turn Somalia into a seventh-century-style Islamic state. At the same time, they have drawn increasingly close to Al Qaeda, deploying suicide bombers, attracting jihadists from around the world and prompting American concerns that they may be spreading into Kenya, Yemen and beyond.
But could Somalia finally be reaching a tipping point against the Shabab? Not only is Somalia’s transitional government gearing up for a major offensive against the Shabab — with the American military providing intelligence and logistical support — but Mogadishu’s beleaguered population, sensing a change in the salt-sticky air, is beginning to turn against them.
Women who have been whipped and humiliated by morality police for not veiling their faces are now whispering valuable secrets about the Shabab’s movements into the ears of government soldiers. Teenage students outraged that Shabab-allied fighters hoisted a black flag in front of their school recently pelted the fighters with stones. Defectors are leaving the Shabab in droves, including one 13-year-old who said that he was routinely drugged before being handed a machine gun and shoved into combat. . . . . “They are like rabid dogs,” said Dahir Mohamed, a shopkeeper, who still has puffy, oddly circular scars on his face from where he says young Shabab fighters bit him. . . . .
Islam and Muslims should not scare you (Christian Science Monitor, 23 March 2010)
National Post, 18 March 2010: Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed works as a security guard at an apartment complex in Toronto’s Little Mogadishu neighborhood. It can be a slow job, sitting at the gatehouse, but nobody could call him inexperienced. Before he returned to Toronto last year, the 35-year-old Canadian spent six months with the Somali militant group Al-Shabab. He trained at Al-Shabab’s main camp in Mogadishu and guarded the frontlines. . . .
. . . . He said he underwent weapons training at the Salahedin training camp, located in an old Italian graveyard. “It was run by the Shabab,” he said. “From morning until mid-day they give you training, military training – defensive tactics, how to shoot a gun, basic self-defensive training, and in the afternoon they were giving us speeches.”
The Al-Shabab leaders framed the conflict in religious terms, saying Somalis were being punished for not following their Islamic faith, and that if they died fighting for Allah they would go to paradise, Mr. Mohamed said. Mr. Mohamed gave some speeches himself. Because he had been freed from the Ethiopians as a result of an Al-Shabab attack, he was used for propaganda purposes and was regularly asked to speak to the young militants, he said. . . .
. . . . Upon returning to the Dixon Road neighborhood where he grew up, Mr. Mohamed said he was alarmed at the level of extremism he witnessed among some of the young Somali-Canadians he met. “I was shocked how deep these kids are into this radicalization.” Some were interested in fighting in Somalia, he said. One of the members of the Toronto 18 terrorist group was Somali-born, and one of the most prominent Al-Shabab leaders, an American named Omar Hammami, had lived in Toronto’s Little Mogadishu.
Then last fall, Canadian authorities began investigating the “Somali Six,” a group of young Toronto men in their mid-20s who may have joined Al-Shabab. Mr. Mohamed suspects a recruiting network may be operating.
“How did these six boys get a ticket, airplane ticket, somebody waiting for them at the airport in Nairobi, putting them in a hotel there, taking them up to another city, taking them out of the country, smuggling them to Somalia? There must be an organization here, there, everywhere.” He believes youths are becoming radicalized partly from the Internet, particularly by watching online extremists like Anwar Al Awlaki, an American-born al-Qaeda ideologue who encourages Muslims to commit terrorism in Western countries. . . .
AFP, 28 Jan 10: Somalia’s Islamist insurgents on Thursday banned video games, one of the last forms of entertainment left for local youth, arguing they were destroying the country’s social fabric. The Hezb al-Islam group, currently engaged in a deadly insurgency against the internationally-backed federal government, made the announcement in a statement circulated in the areas it controls. “Starting two days after this statement’s date of issue, all video game playing centres in the areas under Hezb al-Islam control should be closed and playing video games will be prohibited,” it said. “Video games are designed in such a way that they destroy our social traditions and for that reason, anybody found ignoring this order will be punished and equipment will be confiscated,” it said. . . . .
"There is no fun in Islam."--Ayatollah Khomeini
. . . . The disappointment was deep among teenage boys in the area, where movies and sports are also banned. “We used to watch movies. They were banned. Now the PlayStations we had fun with are also banned. This country is not for young people like me,” said Abdirahman Hirsi, a 19-year-old from Lafole town. “They have basically banned everything that is fun, so we feel increasingly bored,” said another boy.
Abdi Moge, an older resident in the village, argued that there were few alternatives to occupy young people other than joining an armed group. “Who knows what else the children are going to do now. It’s not as if there was proper education for them. The more they are prevented from playing, the more likely they are to join the fighting,” he said.
Hezb al-Islam and their insurgency comrades from the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab group are implementing a very strict form of Sharia (Islamic law) in the areas they control. The Hezb al-Islam statement did not make clear what forms of punishment would be reserved for diehard gamers caught flouting the ban. However, in recent months across Somalia, people found dancing to traditional songs have been flogged, men guilty of trimming their beards arrested and youth playing football in shorts reprimanded by religious police units. Satellite television is also banned in many areas and there are no cinemas left in central and southern Somalia, which are under Islamist control.
