Somalia's al Shabaab rebels pull out of Kismayo African Union troops finally in control of Al Shabaab

 

Somalia's al Shabaab rebels pull out of Kismayo last bastion in Somalia: Somalia's al Shabaab rebels withdrew from their last major bastion of Kismayu overnight, the group and residents said, a day after Kenyan and Somali government forces attacked the southern port. The loss of Kismayu will deal a major blow to the al Qaeda-linked movement, weakening morale and depriving it of revenue, but is unlikely to mark the end of its five-year rebellion.

The insurgents, who once controlled large swathes of the lawless Horn of Africa country, have been turning to guerrilla-style tactics, harrying the country's weak government with suicide bombings and assassinations. "We moved out our fighters ... from Kismayu at midnight," al Shabaab spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, told Reuters on Saturday.

Al-Shabab 'leaving Somali town': Residents in the Somali city of Kismayo have told the BBC that fighters from the Islamist group al-Shabab are leaving their stronghold in the port. Kismayo is the group's main base in its fight against the Somali government, which has been converging on the town with African Union (AU) soldiers. Local residents say militants have been leaving on buses and trucks, taking heavy equipment with them.

African Union troops now in control of Kismayo and Al Shabaab

In the beginning of the year: Somalia conference opened with Al-Shabaab under pressure: Ahead of a key international conference on beleaguered Somalia, transitional government forces, backed by Ethiopian allies, seized a key southern town that was once a strategic stronghold for Islamic militants.At the United Nations, meanwhile, the Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to increase the African Union force in Somalia from 12,000 to 17,731 troops.  

The town of Baidoa fell into government hands, said Mohamed Ibrahim Habsade, a Somali member of parliament and an officer leading the fight. Baidoa lies on a key commodities route, and last year, global aid agencies flew in emergency supplies to the town to help thousands of hungry Somalis fleeing drought-ridden areas. Al-Shabaab militants abandoned the town in fear as government troops closed in.</a>

Then: Somalia al-Shabab militant base of Baidoa captured: Ethiopian and Somali troops have taken a strategic stronghold of Islamist militants in south-western Somalia.Eyewitnesses told the BBC that about 50 vehicles, including some 20 tanks, had entered Baidoa, which was not defended The BBC's Mohamed Dhore in the capital, Mogadishu, says Baidoa was the most important al-Shabab base after the southern port of Kismayo.Al-Shabab, which has recently joined al-Qaeda, confirmed that it had withdrawn its forces.

Then: Airstrike Targets Al Shabaab, Air strikes pummeled Somalia's southern region on Friday, killing six. Among the dead were two leading foreign Jihadists and four of their Somali comrades. The strike comes a day after international leaders met in London to discuss boosting efforts against instability in Somalia. 

 The attack was launched against the Islamist militant group, al Shabaab, who largely controls the southern region of the country. The aerial attack took place in the Lower Shabelle region, when unidentified warplanes targeted cars with militants inside. Somali intelligence officials said the foreigners killed in the attack were a Kenyan and an Egyptian.

Shabab is finally being humiliated so no surprise Zawahiri said Somalia's Shabab joined Qaeda: video
African Union: Somalia's al-Shabab Being 'Systematically Destroyed':Zawahiri says Somalia's Shabab joined Qaeda: video:

Somalia's extremist Shabab fighters have joined ranks with Al-Qaeda, the terror network's chief Ayman al-Zawahiri announced in a video message posted on jihadist forums on Thursday. "I will break the good news to our Islamic nation, which will... annoy the crusaders, and it is that the Shabab movement in Somalia has joined Al-Qaeda," Zawahiri said."The jihadist movement is with the grace of Allah, growing and spreading within its Muslim nation despite facing the fiercest crusade campaign in history by the West," said Zawahiri in the video released by Al-Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab.:

KDF kill top al Shabaab commander in Somalia: THIRTEEN Al Shabaab insurgents including one of its top commanders were killed by the Kenya Defense Forces following a fierce exchange of fire at Dalayat, Southern Somalia. Following the attack, one Kenyan soldier was wounded, and had to be flown to Garissa military camp, where he is undergoing medical attention.

That has worked well! It will not help Al Shabaab unless they leave Somalia and spread around the world as we said. They will now become another part of the head of the hydra!

After what happened to the United States ending with Black Hawk Down and our departure from Somalia I thought Al Shabab would never be defeated. Then I came to the realization that they could be defeated if area countries and the world rallied around the effort to make them a non entity at least as a separate arm of Al Qaeda. Well it has happened and they are being defeated.

AU: Somalia's al-Shabab Being 'Systematically Destroyed': The African Union is asking the United Nations to fund a final push aimed at crushing al-Shabab by August. "The Shabab as a military force is being systematically and steadily destroyed. They have been defeated in Mogadishu, they are now being defeated in the Gedo and Juba regions, same happened in Beledweyn a week ago," Lamamra said:

Al Shabab's demise is not guaranteed yet and I still believe many have left for the Gulf of Aden, Yemen, and other areas they think they will have an impact. Their demise though started with a new militia faction that is about the only group in the country to go against the al-Shabab and win. The Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama - followers of Sufism or mystical Islam - are mostly volunteering students who say they have no political ambitions beyond expelling al-Shabab from the capital, one district at a time. Time to put them in overdrive as you will agree. the Al Shabab killers Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamma: We should send them around the world.

Al Shabab should have negotiated last November when they were given the chance When we noted the world was closing in on them:

Better still They should have taken Amnesty from Somalia when it was offered

Somalia is winning their long battle! I am impressed and really believe we stand a chance at defeating the Islamist extremism if only the entire world and every region where they flourish comes together and eradicates them.

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com