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Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...claims its recent attacks are in "doubled response" to the U.S. military’s expanding efforts against it.
The SITE Intelligence Group said late Tuesday that the Lion of Islam group’s Shahada News Agency posted the statements on social media on Monday.
The al-Shabaab statement says the recent attacks also are in response to President Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed’s declaration of a new offensive against the Death Eaters last week.
The statement says Sunday’s suicide car kaboom in the capital, Mogadishu, that killed 13 and Monday’s suicide kaboom at a military academy in Mogadishu that killed at least five soldiers are examples of al-Shabaab’s response to the decisions by the U.S. and Somalia’s government.
The U.S. military now can pursue more aggressive