Islamic Militants Rebound in Somalia !!

[Kramer]

Islamic militants rebound in Somalia

NAIROBI, Kenya - A day after the Somalia's interim government claimed victory in its battle with Islamic militiamen in the capital, they were back Friday — attacking a Mogadishu hotel used by top officials.

Driven from power last year by a Western-supported offensive, the Islamists have fresh recruits and new funding and are threatening to turn the country back into a haven for al-Qaida.
More than 1,400 people have been killed over the last month, 400 in the last five days, in violence caused at least in part by the militants, who have been infiltrating towns across the country.

At stake is the most strategically located nation in the Horn of Africa — a lawless land that is a crossroads between the Middle East and Africa and dominates important sea lanes. A U.N.-supported government has tried to exert control, but has influence over only a tiny part of the territory.

Small Shabab units were sent to the towns of Kismayo, Merka and Jowhar on Saturday, a Shabab member said, asking not to be identified for fear of retribution.
A more senior Shabab member said the group has rebounded since the Western-supported military sweep led by the Ethiopian army.

"We were defeated by the Ethiopians and driven from Mogadishu. We fled to the jungle. And we were bombed there, so now we are back in Mogadishu. We cannot leave Somalia, so we must fight to the death, or defeat the government," he said, insisting his name not be used for fear of being targeted.

He told AP the Shabab now has about 5,000 militiamen and recruits join everyday.

The resurgence of the Shabab has driven prices at Mogadishu's main weapons market to an all-time high, dealers said. No one is sure where the money is coming from, but many Somalis assume it is from outside the country.

The Islamic courts controlled Mogadishu for only six months in 2006, but those were the most peaceful months since 1991, when Somalia's last strong national government collapsed and clan rivalries fractured the country

----you must be stupid if you really think the shabaab are defeated or anyway lost war --they just took break and back in business yesterday!

[michael_ital]

Insha'allah. But I DON'T like the tone of that article. e.g "back into a haven for al-Qaida."