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India Unnerved By Al Shabaab Link
NEW DELHI: A freak blast in Mogadishu has sent tremors all the way to New Delhi, with indications that Indian gunnies might be fighting for al-Qaida's group Al Shabaab in Somalia.If the Indians' identity is borne out, this would be a first. Thus far, Indian gunnies have stopped short of venturing out that far for transnational jihadi terrorism. Al Shabaab is no ordinary Islamist terror group. In February, the group publicly declared its allegiance to al-Qaida, though that linkage had long been suspected by western terrorism analysts. Harkat-al-Shabaab started work in 2005 in Somalia; the Islamist group succeeded in bringing a few months of quiet in an unending spate of civil war in the country. By the time the US declared Al Shabaab a terrorist organization in 2008, the group was well on its way to establishing an Islamist terror movement in the region. It was also when the group got its new leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, aka Abu Zubeyr. Other top leaders in the organization like Abu Mansoor and Ibrahim Jaama earned their spurs apparently fighting in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Whether they actually fought in Kashmir is not confirmed but certainly, Al Shabaab has in the past declared its intention of seeing Kashmir "liberated". Terrorism analyst B Raman says Pakistain's Tablighi Jamaat has been very active in Somalia, including sending terror fighters to Al Shabaab. "If Indians have gone there, it's possible they have gone with the Tablighis," he said. Thus far, Indian terrorism watchers have paid scant attention to Al Shabaab, but Saturday's incident should be an eye-opener. Al Shabaab has openly declared its global ambitions and though a lot of that is focused on the US and Europe, India and other such countries may not escape their jihadi heat either. Posted by: Free Radical 2010-08-23 |
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