Gunfire heard inside besieged Somalia hotel as security forces battle attackers
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have appealed to the international community to ensure that Somalia is able to access international financial and credit support, following a report that foreign fighters had infiltrated the country and were plotting attacks.
Al-Shabab’s (al-Shabaab) affiliate, the Islamic Movement in Somalia and its leader, a former al-Qaeda ally, Abdi Qiraiq Ahlu Mohamoud, said it had a “plan” for attacks. (Reuters)
A Somali security official was killed on June 12 when a US drone strike hit al-Shabab leaders in the south of the country, senior US military officials acknowledged.
“The death of the Somali official was not in response to a specific threat,” Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Andrews, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on June 13, adding: “The death of this individual does not change the situation in Somalia, and it’s a significant death.”
Al-Shabab’s (al-Shabaab) affiliate, the Islamic Movement in Somalia and its leader, a former al-Qaeda ally, Abdi Qiraiq Ahlu Mohamoud, said it had a “plan” for attacks. In an address on June 11, the group called on Muslims in Britain to support it in an attack on Somali government targets. Mohamoud told Reuters that the group had also planned to target British officials and a parliamentarian.
The US military previously acknowledged that a US drone had killed Abdi Qiraiq Ahlu Mohamoud, leader of the Islamic Movement in Somalia, in a strike in his home in early June. It had said the strike killed a leading al-Shabab figure close to the group’s central command.
US and British officials said the US had the legal authority to do so in Somalia, but the drone strike has been condemned by human rights groups and prompted a wave of criticism of President Barack Obama, who said the US did not need a “no-