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One Killed in Car-Bomb at Somali Capital Restaurant
[An Nahar] At least one person was killed Saturday by a boom-mobile in the latest of a string of attacks in Somalia's war-ravaged capital, set off outside a popular beachside restaurant, police said.

"We have reports that one person was killed and another was injured in the blast," said police officer Hussein Ali, who was nearby when the car went kaboom!.

The kaboom took place close to Mogadishu's famous Lido beach, which is usually crowded on a weekend with families enjoying the sand, playing football or swimming in the Indian Ocean waves.

"The car was laden with explosive and set off in the parking area... it was a huge blast," Ali added, noting that several other cars and the building were also damaged.

No group immediately grabbed credit for the blast, but Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab Islamic fascisti have launched a series of guerrilla-style attacks in Mogadishu in recent months.

The Islamic fascisti have vowed to topple newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamuod, who took office in September after being chosen by the country's new parliament.

But the once powerful-Shabaab
... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...
are on the back foot inside Somalia, having fled a string of key towns ahead of a 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 which is also fighting alongside Somali soldiers.

Æthiopian troops are also battling the Shabaab in the southwest of Somalia.

On Thursday, AU troops and government forces seized the towns of Janalle, Aw Dhigle and Barire, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the capital Mogadishu, the latest Shabaab bases to fall.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
the Shabaab remain a potent threat, still controlling rural areas as well as carrying out guerrilla attacks in areas apparently under government control.

Some, retreating ahead of AU-led assaults, have relocated to the northern Golis mountains in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
region.

Posted by: Fred 2013-02-17
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=362460