You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Africa Horn
More Brits heading to Somalia for jihad: report
2009-09-14
[Al Arabiya Latest] More and more young Britons are travelling to war-torn Somalia for "jihad training," prompting British intelligence chiefs to warn that the country is becoming a more popular "holy war" training ground, a local newspaper reported Sunday.

The heads of the U.K.'s top spy agency MI5 warned that at least 100 British citizens have gone to fight or train in Somalia since 2004, according to the left-leaning Independent newspaper, citing unnamed sources.
Do they really have to be allowed back into the country?
" You have to remember that Somalia is not a place you would go for a holiday. It is particularly striking when people with no Somali family are going there; it looks as if some people are being attracted by the lawlessness "
Anonymous Home Office source
"We would have started at below 20 five years ago, when Somalia was not significant enough to be put under close surveillance," a senior Home Office source told the paper Saturday, adding that the number increased each year. "You have to remember that Somalia is not a place you would go for a holiday. It is particularly striking when people with no Somali family are going there; it looks as if some people are being attracted by the lawlessness."

A moderate Muslim leader from outside London told the paper he had heard of young men travelling to Somalia to join extremist groups. "I'm hearing it from parents," Sheikh Ahmed Aabi said. "They say they [their children] are joining the jihad. This is a big problem facing our community."
So what is "our community" doing to solve their big problem?
Growing concern
The officials are particularly concerned about the number of people with no direct family connection to Somalia who are travelling there, noting that it has become an alternative base for Islamic radical groups like al-Qaeda and al-Shebaab.

Although Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the main destination for British would-be jihadists, the paper said officials see Somalia as the next major challenge to combating terrorism under the guise of Islam. "I have seen figures that are not in the public domain that suggest there is an increasing flow of young Britons into Somalia," the paper quoted opposition conservative parliamentarian Patrick Mercer, chairman of the counter-terrorism subcommittee, as saying. "There is now a mixture of British people, from numerous backgrounds, who are heading out there and that is causing great concern."

A 21-year-old British Somali who blew himself up at a checkpoint in southern Somalia in 2007 was believed to have entered the country overland from Kenya.

Terrorism training
The Shebab, an al-Qaeda inspired movement designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., is at the forefront of a three-month-old offensive to topple Somalia's President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and has imposed strict Sharia law in areas under its control.

The paper said a confidential report in 2002 identified 16 terrorism training camps in Somalia and that the U.S. claimed the network had expanded, reaching beyond the war-torn country's own borders into American's Midwest and Australia.
If the camps blow up, one after another, who is to say whether it was the Americans, the Israelis, or just a work accident? I'm sure the visual analysts at the CIA and U.S. military intelligence know exactly where the camps are... satellite imagery being what it is, nowadays.
Posted by:Fred

#3  Paul2's post raises a point. My impression is that tens of thousands of wannabe jihadis got themselves maimed or killed in Iraq before the effort petered out. Likewise some hundreds in Afghanistan -- the reports we've seen here recently strongly indicate that effort is losing steam much more quickly, sending home unknown numbers of young men no longer enamored of the reality of jihad. How much would Britain benefit if the idiots Darwinize themselves in Somalia now, given that Somalia is historically deadly to the locals, and even more deadly to the idealists attempting to help them?
Posted by: trailing wife    2009-09-14 19:00  

#2  The avarge somalian in london if under 20 are in a drug gang and unemployed!

Over 20 they have multiple wifes/kids,Chew Khat and are unemployed!

which equals=Alot of bored/lazy Somalians in London.

Thanks Labour!
Posted by: Paul2   2009-09-14 11:26  

#1  More and more young Britons

It's their excitable Celtic blood.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2009-09-14 02:25  

00:00