Friday, June 10, 2011

Big Week for Al Shabaab News

This week the FBI confirmed the identity of one of the suicide bombers in the May 30 suicide attack in Somalia as St. Paul resident Farah Mohamed Beledi (pictured right). Soon after the attack, Al Shabaab identified the suicide bomber as Abdullahi Ahmed, another Somali-American from Minneapolis. The FBI has yet to announce whether the second suicide bomber is in fact Ahmed.

On the same day that Beledi was identified as one of the suicide bombers, another Somali-American was arrested and charged with providing material support to Al Shabaab. Ahmed Hussein Mahamud, 26, of Westerville, Ohio, allegedly conspired with others to provide money and personnel to the terrorist group. He will be transferred to Minneapolis to face trial, where he was indicted earlier this week. 

Beledi and Mahamud are just two of at least 34 people charged in the U.S. in the past few years in connection with Al Shabaab. Twenty-one of these individuals are in U.S. custody, while 13 others are at large or believed to be dead. In addition to those officially charged on terror offenses, at least 6 others are believed to have been killed while fighting with Al Shabaab, including Shirwa Ahmed, the first known American suicide bomber. 

Reports are coming out today that a female Al Shabaab fighter has carried out a suicide attack on the Somali
Minister of Interior’s house, injuring him. While her identity has not yet been confirmed, there are three other women charged on terror offenses linked to Al Shabaab who have been arrested in the U.S. These three women - Nima Ali Yusuf, Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan - have all be charged with aiding Al Shabaab.

While recent events have forced us to focus more on AQ Central, AQAP, TTP and LeT -- this week alone proves that we have to continue to be concerned about Al Shabaab. 

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Hizb ut-Tahrir America Keeps on Trucking

Despite canceling their second annual Khilafah conference last summer because they lost their venue,  Hizb ut-Tahrir America - the US-based sect of a global Caliphatist movement - has announced that
they will be holding their third annual Khilafah conference at the end of this month in Chicago. Learning their lesson from the previous year, the venue location is still TBA.

In addition to posting the conference announcement on their website, HT also announced the conference on Facebook. HT is very active on mainstream social networking sites, as are many of its members.

At their 2009 conference, HT speakers advocated for replacing the US constitution with shari’a law and implementing an Islamic Caliphate in the US.  One speaker urged the audience to fight for Islamic law in the US “unless and until Islam becomes victorious or we die in the attempt.” 

While HT claims that they advocate a non-violent ideology, the group has a history of encouraging jihad “to fight the enemy and repel them.” HT also frequently urges for Muslims to “blow Israel off the map” and “fight the Jews.” So far, HT in America has not endorsed violence publicly. 

Stay tuned for more details about the upcoming event. In addition - if you’d like more information about some of the US-based individuals involved in HT in America, please contact me