... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
, a Somali militia linked to al-Qaeda that has asserted responsibility for the mall attack.
| The vicious aesthete-intellectual. Wasn't Lenin one of those? |
Late Wednesday, in an audio posted on a Web site linked to al-Shabaab, Godane warned Kenyans of more attacks if the government refuses to withdraw its forces.
"There is no way that you, the Kenyan public, could possibly endure a prolonged war in Somalia and you cannot also withstand a war of attrition inside your own country," he said, according to an al-Shabaab Twitter feed in English. "So make your choice today and withdraw all your forces . . . [or] be prepared for an abundance of blood that will be spilt in your country, economic downfall and displacement."
The four-day siege of the Westgate Premier Shopping Mall was Godane's first major cross-border assault since he eliminated key al-Shabaab leaders in the summer and solidified his grip over the militia. His ambitions appear to be as complex as his personality.
"Godane is clearly positioning himself as the next Anwar al-Awlaki
... Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, zapped in Yemen, al-Awlaki was a dual citizen of the U.S. and Yemen. He was an Islamic holy man who was a trainer for al-Qaeda and its franchises. His sermons were attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers, by Fort Hood murderer Nidal Malik Hussein, and
UndieboomerUmar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He was the first U.S. citizen ever placed on a CIA target list...
-- on top of his game as the head of a local al-Qaeda affiliate, and with international ambitions," said Abdi Aynte, director of the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, a Mogadishu-based think tank. He was referring to the Yemeni American preacher who was a key figure in al-Qaeda's Yemen branch and was killed in a 2011 U.S. drone strike.
Since 2011, al-Shabaab has lost much territory in Somalia, pushed out of key cities by Western-backed 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 and weakened by infighting and loss of funding. An ideological and directional split among the militia's leaders has pit nationalists, who want the group to remain focused on ousting Somalia's government, against transnationalists such as Godane, who have pushed the militia to pursue a wider jihadist agenda, regionally and beyond.
After a brutal struggle, Godane emerged victorious. He transformed the militia into a more streamlined, unified and radicalized terrorist force, said J. Peter Pham, head of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. In some ways, the mall attack was an announcement to radical Musselmens and the West that a new al-Shabaab had arrived -- with Godane in control.