kenyans started blaming Ethiopia for the latest attack

Source: ogadennet

A Pentagon report blames Ethiopian regime’s atrocities for the creation of Al Shabab

The following analysis is published by U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations University.

Lessons Learned from the African Union Mission in Somalia

Ethiopian soldiers were accused of committing a wide range of atrocities, including firing mortars on civilian hospitals, press institutions, and houses, and rape, theft, kidnapping, and murder of Somali civilians.15 Among many Somalis, these strikes established the U.S. as an instigator of the Ethiopian invasion, which provided a propaganda opening for alQaeda and precipitated a flood of foreign jihadi fighters into Mogadishu. By early 2008, confidential Somali sources16 estimate that some 2,000 foreign fighters had entered Somalia, approximately 40 percent of them from the Somali diaspora. While the moderate members of the SCIC fled into Eritrea and Djibouti—where they established allied political movements called the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia—the hardline elements of the SCIC regrouped, and more were trained by the new foreign fighters in the use of remote-controlled detonations. Suicide bombings and other un-Somali tactics became increasingly common.

On 21 March 2007, a Somali mob dragged the bodies of Ethiopian and TFG soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu and set them on fire. Over the next two years, outrage over Ethiopian atrocities—particularly the systemic use of rape—prompted more than 20 members of Minnesota’s Somali diaspora to return to Mogadishu to fight the Ethiopian and TFG forces. Their possession of U.S. passports raised the specter of home-grown terrorism and heightened concerns about Somalia’s conflict in Washington.18 Even members of AMISOM began to hear the name of al-Shabaab, which emerged in the midst of the public anger as a popular resistance movement.

By the end of 2007, Ethiopian casualties escalated to an unsustainable level: Somali sources living throughout Mogadishu at that time estimate that Ethiopian forces suffered approximately 200 casualties (wounded and fatalities) each week.19 The TFG remained hopelessly swamped in political infighting—Prime Minister Gedi was fired and in his place came a parade of four prime ministers over the next five years. Ethiopia, losing patience with the TFG and increasingly doubtful that the African Union would succeed in deploying an adequate peacekeeping mission to relieve Ethiopian forces, began to look for an exit strategy. By the end of March 2008, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) claimed to have drawn down to approximately 2,500 troops, mostly based in Mogadishu and Baidoa (although Somali sources dispute this figure).20 Nevertheless, the operation was still a financial drain for Ethiopia, which prompted the government in Addis Ababa to call for international assistance to reimburse its costs. Ethiopia was also thought to have concluded by early 2008, in the face of rising public support for al-Shabaab, that a military solution in Somalia would not be possible.

Read the full analysis here: http://jsou.socom.mil/JSOU%20Publicatio … _FINAL.pdf

Source:: ethiopianreview

Foreign Secretary Refuses to Request Death-Row Brit’s Release

LONDON - The Foreign Secretary is refusing to request the release of a British citizen who was kidnapped and rendered to Ethiopia over nine months ago, it’s emerged.

Andargachew ‘Andy’ Tsege, a father of three from London, has been held at a secret location in Ethiopia since he was abducted in June 2014 while in transit at Sanaa airport, Yemen. A prominent critic of human rights abuses in Ethiopia, Mr Tsege faces a death sentence imposed in absentia in 2009. The Ethiopian government has refused to say whether it will carry out the sentence or not, and has refused requests to visit Mr Tsege in prison by his family, British officials, and lawyers at human rights organization Reprieve.

The Foreign Office has told lawyers from Reprieve and law firm Leigh Day – which are assisting Mr Tsege’s family – that instead of requesting his release, it will press Ethiopia to follow ‘due process’. The Foreign Secretary is also refusing to treat Mr Tsege’s ordeal as a kidnapping and torture case, though internal Foreign Office emails unearthed earlier this year noted the ‘real risk of torture’ faced by Mr Tsege in Ethiopia, and revealed that British officials believed Ethiopia’s actions to be unlawful.

Mr Tsege has not been seen since December 19 2014, when the British government was granted a brief and heavily monitored meeting. Since his disappearance, the Ethiopian state broadcaster has aired several videos of him in detention looking gaunt and tired, raising concerns that he may be being tortured. According to a 2013 report by Human Rights Watch, such mistreatment is routine in Ethiopian prisons – particularly in jails holding the government’s perceived opponents, such as Mr Tsege.

Maya Foa, head of Reprieve’s death penalty team, said: “The UK’s failure to even ask for Andy Tsege’s release over the past nine months is nothing short of a scandal. We’re talking about the illegal kidnap, rendition and possible torture of a British citizen – and a father of young children – by a government that had already sentenced him to death on trumped up, politically-motivated charges. The government of Ethiopia is supposed to be a close ally, but its refusal to reveal where Andy is being held, or how he’s being treated, shows only contempt for the UK, and for Andy’s rights. The Foreign Office must change course and demand Andy is returned to his family in London, before it’s too late.”

Source:www.commondreams.org

What’s behind the return of al-Shabab, the terror group that killed at least 147 people in Kenya?

By Adam Taylor  

Fear plagues Garissa after al-Shabab attack(1:17)

Residents of Garissa, Kenya were still reeling the day after an attack by al-Shabab militants on Garissa University campus left at least 147 people dead. (Reuters)

The Islamist extremist group al-Shabab returned to international headlines this week, with a spectacular and horrific attack on the dormitories at Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya. Authorities believe that at least 147 people have died in the attack, and at least 79 people have been injured.

The militant group's dramatic return is now thought to have been the worst terror attack in Kenya in almost two decades, worse even than al-Shabab's 2013 attack on Westgate Premier Shopping Mall that left 67 people dead.

Kenya Red Cross staff assist a woman in Nairobi on April 3 after she viewed the body of a relative killed in the attack on a university in Garissa the day before. (AP)

That attack made al-Shabab internationally infamous, but in less than two years the Somalia-based group was eclipsed by the likes of the Islamic State and Boko Haram, two groups that seemed to represent a new generation of terrorism. Now it's worth asking — why is al-Shabab back? And — more importantly — did it ever really go away?

The origins of al-Shabab

An armed member of al-Shabab attends a rally in support of the merger of the Somali group with al-Qaeda on the outskirts of Mogadishu in February 2002. (AP )

Al-Shabab refers to itself as the Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahideen: "al-Shabab" simply means "the youth" in Arabic. The group was once considered the youth militia of the Islamic Courts Union, a coalition of sharia courts that gained control of large parts of Somalia in 2006. Many analysts think the group has deeper origins in the Salafist militia Al-Ittihad Al-Islami, which emerged in the 1990s after the fall of Somalia's military dictatorship.

After the ICU was defeated by troops loyal to Somalia's transitional government and Ethiopia in 2007, al-Shabab fighters headed to the countryside, where they turned to guerrilla attacks at the suggestion of al-Qaeda. The group had some success, even occupying parts of the Somali capital of Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011. In 2008, the U.S. government designated al-Shabab a foreign terrorist organization and by 2012 the group had officially pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The group's violent tactics — which included stoning school girls, attacking soccer fans and carrying out beheadings — soon earned it infamy.

While the group initially focused on targets within Somalia, it gradually began making its presence known outside the country — most notably in Kenya and Uganda. Kenya appears to have particularly angered the militants by sending troops into Somalia to fight alongside the African Union and prompted some of the most bloody responses from al-Shabab. Most notoriously, on Sept. 21, 2013, a number of militia members seized control of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, resulting in a shootout with local forces and a stand-off that lasted days. Al-Shabab later claimed responsibility for the attack, which caused the deaths of at least 67 people.

A group defeated?

An undated photo from the Rewards for Justice Web site shows top al-Shabab leader Somali Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed, at an unknown location. (AFP PHOTO /Rewards for Justice)

The success of the Kenyan mall attack brought renewed international attention to al-Shabab: Less than a month after the attack, United States forces raided an al-Shabab compound in Barawe, Somalia, ultimately backing off because too many women and children could have been hurt. Then, in September of last year, a U.S. drone strike killed a mysterious man called Mukhtar Abu Zubeyr, also known as Godane, believed to have been the mastermind of the mall attack. Western sanctions are also aimedat the group's finances.

In a speech last year, President Obama suggested that U.S. action in Somalia was an example of a successful U.S. counterterrorism campaign. He described it as the "strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines." Yemen was also held up as an example of this policy in action.

In Somalia, it's certainly clear that al-Shabab has nowhere near the power it once had. The group was forced from the capital in 2011 and then left the economically important port of Kismayo in September 2012. Nowadays, its reach is mostly limited to rural areas. In Somalia, war-torn and chaotic for much of the past 20 years, there have been tentative signs of a return to normality in Mogadishu.

In Kenya, government officials had just days ago been downplaying the threat of terrorism posed by al-Shabab and other groups. “Kenya is as safe as any country in the world," President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Wednesdayafter controversial travel advisories from Britain and Canada. “We are now fed up with this threats that we keep getting of travel advisories."

The reality is that al-Shabab was far from gone. As WorldViews noted in December, al-Shabab's attacks had not stopped in 2014: It was suspected of being behind a series of terror strikes in neighboring Kenya, including the slaughter of non-Muslims on a bus in November. Just days before the attack in Kenya, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack on a hotel in Mogadishu popular with foreigners and government officials. Officials believe at least 24 people died in that attack, including six attackers.

The reality of al-Shabab's resurgence

Kenyan Defense Forces run toward the Garissa University campus after an attack by al-Shabab. (AFP PHOTO /Carl de Souza)

Despite significant intervention in Somalia from African Union forces and targeted American strikes, al-Shabab was still able to pull off a terrible attack at Garissa University College. Right now, much of the focus on how this happened is on the Kenyan government, with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud telling the BBC that security forces between the two countries needed to coordinate their intelligence better.

In fact, just last year, Kenyan journalist Harry Misiko had highlighted a lack of regional coordination as one factor that seriously hurt Kenya's fight against terrorism. Others factors included corruption and poor equipment. Observers have complained of heavy-handed reprisals from Kenyan forces.

Al-Shabab's attacks in Kenya seem to have a dual purpose — seeking to persuade Kenyan politicians to withdraw troops from the Somalia but also fomenting religious divides within Kenya. In this week's attacks, some accounts suggested that Muslims had been separated from Christians and allowed to flee. Roughly 11 percent of Kenya's population is Islamic, and al-Shabab has found fertile ground for recruits within the country.

Al-Shabab's transnational aspirations are a problem for the U.S. too. The group is said to have attracted a number of young American recruits, and Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State militant better known as Jihadi John, is suspected of having attempted to join the group. U.S. officials have said that the group has tried to coordinate with other jihadist groups, including Boko Haram.

Ultimately, groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State have diverted attention from al-Shabab, but the Somali group's continuing attacks are a reminder of just how hard it can be to stop organizations committed to guerrilla warfare and terrorism.

Source:washingtonpost.com