... the personification of Somali state failure...
group is planning attacks in the country, officials said on Tuesday.
The move came three weeks after officials said two Somali jacket wallahs accidentally blew themselves up while preparing to kill football fans during Æthiopia's World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria.
Al-Shabaab has vowed to exact Dire Revenge™ on Æthiopia for sending troops to Somalia to fight the al Qaeda-linked myrmidons, alongside 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 from Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
"There is strong evidence that indicates Al-Shabaab and terrorist groups backed by Eritrea
...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age...
are preparing to carry out attacks in Addis Ababa and other areas of the country soon," the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and the federal police said in a joint statement.
Addis Ababa often accuses the government in neighbouring Eritrea of supporting rebels, which Asmara staunchly denies.
The statement, read on state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, said security forces were already on heightened alert and called on the public to inform police if they encountered "suspicious" activity.
Hotel staff and private landlords should verify the identity of visitors, the statement said.
It urged soldiers to remain vigilant at checkpoints along the country's borders.
In September, al-Shabaab gunnies raided an upmarket shopping mall in Nairobi, killing at least 67 people in a four-day siege.
Æthiopia says it has thwarted several attacks over the past two years which it blamed on domestic rebel groups as well as Somali myrmidons.
However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
it has so far been spared the sorts of assaults seen in nearby countries -- such as the Nairobi mall siege and an attack that killed 74 football fans in Uganda as they watched the 2010 World Cup final on television.