Al-Shabaab front man Sheikh Abdi Aziz Abu Muzab said in a presser on Thursday that they killed Ahlu Sunna leader Sheikh Hassan Sheikh Qoryoley and 18 of his special guards, a Press TV correspondent reported on Friday.
Ahlu Sunna has confirmed the news, vowing to kill top
al-Shabaab... Harakat ash-Shabaab al-Mujahidin aka the Mujahideen Youth Movement. It was originally the youth movement of the Islamic Courts, now pretty much all of what's left of it. They are aligned with al-Qaeda but operate more like the Afghan or Pakistani Taliban. The organization's current leader is Ibrahim Haji Jama Mee'aad, also known as Ibrahim
al-Afghani. Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a Kenyan al-Qaeda member, is considered the group's military leader...
fighters in retaliation for the death of Sheikh Qoryoley.
Ahlu Sunna came to prominence in 2008 when they took up arms to fight al-Shaboobs.
Since 2008, Ahlu Sunna has gained control of five regions in the country, including Gedo region.
In 2010, the militia group signed an agreement with the government in which they were officially granted the control of five ministries as well as some diplomatic and security posts in the government. In return they have vowed to fight against al-Shabaab group.
Al-Shabaab was formerly the military wing of the deposed Islamic Court Union (ICU) that controlled much of central and southern Somalia in late 2006.
The Somali government, backed by 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...
forces, has recently launched an offensive to flush out al-Shabaab group especially in parts of the capital, Mogadishu, which are under the control of the militia.
However,
The over-used
However...
the lack of coordination among government forces, who are barely trained and seldom get paid, has for long barred the promise of a full-scale war against opposition fighters.