[An Nahar] Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab on Wednesday issued a stark warning to Kenyan voters ahead of next week's general elections, threatening them with a "long, gruesome war".The Islamist group argued Kenya was safer when it ruled bordering southern Somalia but stopped short of saying who Kenyan voters should choose in the March 4 polls.
Kenyan troops, who have since become part of the 17,000-strong African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
force fighting the Shabaab, invaded southern Somalia in October 2011 to attack the bad turbans' bases after a string of killings and kidnappings inside Kenya.
"If you put a government in place, then be willing to endure the consequences of your actions, for you will bear the full brunt of its follies," the Shabaab said in a statement.
Kenya holds presidential, parliamentary, gubernatorial, senatorial and local elections on March 4. None of the leading candidates have hinted they would pull troops out of Somalia.
"The changing political climate in your country may now hold the key to a better future, a future that involves less bloodshed," they continued, warning they would "do whatever it takes to defend our lands from invasion."
Since Kenya's invasion attackers have set off bombs and hurled grenades in the capital Nairobi, while gunnies have killed both security officials and civilians along Kenya's restive border with Somalia.
The attacks are regularly blamed on Shabaab gunnies or their sympathizers, although the beturbanned goons do not specifically claim the killings.
"Remember, we are mujahedeen who celebrate the martyrdom of our loved ones; you are a public that laments the loss of your loved ones," the Shabaab added.
"We are men who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by fighting against you."