Somalia

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Somali Militants Used Minister's Own Niece to Kill Him

Al-Shabab threatens more attacks

(Newser) - Somali militants linked to al-Qaeda have taken credit for the suicide bombing that yesterday killed the country's interior minister, and the BBC reports that they used his own niece to carry out the attack. The teenager, who had been recruited by al-Shabab, walked unchecked past guards and detonated. Interior...

Al-Qaeda Threatens Obama's Grandma

Security increased around Sarah Obama's home

(Newser) - In the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, an African branch of al-Qaeda got personal, threatening President Obama's step-grandmother. Security had already been increased around Sarah Obama's home in Kenya after bin Laden's death, but it was beefed up further after Somalia-based Al Shabaab's threat....

FBI Hauls in Somali Pirate Boss for Deadly Attack

US captures pirate on land for first time for Virginia indictment

(Newser) - The FBI has hauled an alleged pirate leader from Somalia to Virginia to stand trial for his role in the killings of four American hostages earlier this year . Mohammad Shibin was captured in a joint operation coordinated with Somali authorities, reports the Wall Street Journal . The arrest of Shibin, who...

Somali Pirates Out of Space for Captured Ships

They're starting to accept lower ransoms because they've got too many

(Newser) - Good news/bad news time, shipping industry. The good news: Somali pirates are starting to accept lower ransoms for ships! Bad news: It’s because they’ve captured so many they’re running out of places to put the dang things. The ports at Haradheere, Eyl, and Hobyo are jam-packed with...

Danish Hostages Taken to Somali Coast

Pirates will now begin trying to get a ransom

(Newser) - A Danish family whose yacht was hijacked by pirates is now being held along the coast of Somalia, the AP reports. Jan Quist Johansen, his wife, their three teenage children, and two crew members now likely face a lengthy ransom process. They've been moved either to land or to a...

Danish Family Knew They Might Be Hijacked by Pirates

Parents, teens had prepared a 'piracy plan'

(Newser) - The Danish family that was captured by pirates in the Indian Ocean on Thursday wasn't caught unawares, reports the AP . The family—a couple with three children, ages 12 to 16—had written on a travel blog that they were in daily contact with anti-piracy forces, and had prepped a...

Children on Sailboat Hijacked by Pirates

Danish family captured in Indian Ocean

(Newser) - Somali pirates have seized child hostages for what is believed to be the first time. The three children aged 12 to 16 were aboard a Danish sailboat hijacked as it crossed the Indian Ocean, AP reports. Their parents and two Danish crew members were also captured. Danish officials say the...

Somalia, Neighbors Begin Push Against Militants

Clashes erupt in capital, elsewhere with al-Shabaab

(Newser) - Somalia, working with neighboring allied nations, has launched a coordinated offensive against al-Qaeda-linked militants that has seen fighting in the capital and two border towns involving Ethiopian tanks, officials said today. Kenyan troops were deployed to a border crossing. Dozens have died in the push this week against the al-Shabaab...

Blackwater Founder Training Somali Mercenaries

Erik Prince joins forces with controversial South African firm

(Newser) - Lawless, chaotic Somalia appears to be a land of opportunity for controversial Blackwater security company founder Erik Prince. The ex Blackwater honcho—who has left the security company he created and set up shop in the United Arab Emirates—is involved in a project to recruit and train thousands of...

Dutch Police Arrest 12 in Suspected Terror Plot

Somali men were raided in port city of Rotterdam

(Newser) - Dutch police have arrested 12 Somali men in the key port city of Rotterdam on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. The men, aged 19 to 48, were detained yesterday on a tip from the intelligence services that they were planning an attack shortly in the Netherlands. There was no...

FBI Sting Nabs Would-Be Car Bomber in Oregon

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, tried to sabotage tree-lighting ceremony

(Newser) - An Oregon man was arrested last night and charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction after trying to detonate a car bomb at a tree-lighting ceremony. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a US citizen born in Somalia, drove a van to Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland and attempted...

Somali Militants Execute Teens
 Somali Militants Execute Teens 
Nov 23, 2010 10:05 AM CST

Somali Militants Execute Teens

The two boys were accused of molestation, spying, respectively

(Newser) - Militants from Somalia's most feared insurgent group used a firing squad to execute two teenagers in public yesterday, say witnesses and officials. The executions took place in front of hundreds of people summoned to witness the killings in the capital. The firing squad was made up of five masked men....

Freed Yacht Couple Opens Up About Traumatic Year

Retired Brits spent year held captive by Somali thugs

(Newser) - The retired British couple who was released yesterday after a year held hostage by pirates who seized them as they sailed the ocean in their yacht opened up about their ordeal, saying one of their most difficult parts was being severely beaten when they refused to be separated during their...

Pirates Free UK Couple After a Year

'We're very happy to be alive,' Rachel Chandler says

(Newser) - After being held captive more than a year on their 38-foot yacht in the Indian Ocean, Somali pirates have set free a British couple early today, ending one of the longest hostage situations off East Africa. Paul and Rachel Chandler appeared thin but relaxed in a small ceremony in their...

19 Chinese Pirate Hostages Head Home After 4 Months

Captive sailors were fed nothing but spuds after June hijacking

(Newser) - Nineteen Chinese sailors have arrived back in their homeland after 4 months in harsh conditions as captives of Somali pirates. The men were fed nothing but boiled potatoes since the Golden Blessing was hijacked in June, AP reports. Pirates released the men and the ship after receiving a ransom from...

Three Somali Gangs Busted for US Child Sex Ring

And separately, FBI arrests 99 pimps, frees 69 child prostitutes

(Newser) - Two major victories against child prostitution today: Twenty-nine people have been indicted in a sex trafficking ring in which Somali gangs in Minneapolis allegedly forced girls under age 14 into prostitution in at least three states, according to an indictment unsealed today. The indictment said one of the gangs' goals...

Somali Militants Execute Girl 'Spies'

Town ordered to watch teens' execution

(Newser) - A hardline Islamic militia forced hundreds of townspeople to watch as they executed two teenage girls for spying. Members of al-Shabab, which controls much of southern Somalia, walked through the streets telling residents about the executions by loudspeaker before the blindfolded girls, ages 15 and 18, were shot by a...

13 Drown Scrambling for US Navy Aid

Migrants' boat capsizes in Gulf of Aden

(Newser) - At least 13 African migrants packed aboard a boat in the Gulf of Aden died after a scramble for supplies being handed out by the US Navy. The migrants' broken-down craft was being towed to the Somali shore by an inflatable boat from the USS Winston Churchill when sailors attempted...

Brits Warned of 'New Wave of Terror'

Militants from different nations appear to be joining forces

(Newser) - Britain should brace for a "new wave of terror" as the threat from both dissident Irish Republicans and Islamic radicals rises, the chief of the MI5 security agency warns. Militant Irish groups—one of which has threatened to blow up banks in Britain and Ireland—are showing worrying "...

15 Killed as Rebels Attack Somali Parliament

UN: 20K more peacekeepers needed

(Newser) - Three government soldiers were killed and a lawmaker was injured when mortar rounds believed to have been fired by Islamic insurgents hit Somalia's parliament building yesterday. Government and African Union soldiers counter attacked and killed close to a dozen people in a mortar assault on a market, AP reports. Dozens...

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