Foreword

During the past three years, and especially this past year, the eyes of the world have been directed towards the events occurring in the land of Somalia. Events have developed there in a manner that is striking and worrisome to many of the Taghut nations for whom Somalia was always an indispensable strategic goal.

What is new about the matter is not the fury of the struggle or the large number of its victims. Nor is this that which has worried the enemies of the Ummah, because they have become accustomed to such an image over more than two decades of vicious civil war in the country. What is new on the Somali scene, however, is the entry of a new party to the field of struggle which is not subject to the rules of the game and places no faith in them in the first place. They have likewise acquired great and far-reaching aspirations which not only resemble but exceed the combined aspirations of those enemies.

The situation is connected to the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen and those allied with them.[1] This is a Salafist-Jihadist Movement which has no connection to the so-called Islamic Courts Union which the Occupation set up in power. This latter comes at the head of the list of groups that the (Shabaab) Movement wishes to completely eradicate and destroy because they are loyal to the Crusaders and are regarded as the guardian of their interests in the country.

The History of the Struggle for Somalia

For centuries Somalia has been subject to colonial control and the Horn of Africa region is considered to be of grave importance as a strategic location. The Kushites and Semites crossed to East Africa from Bab al-Mandeb. They established civilizations and formed a marketplace for the exchange of goods, services and cultures.

The Horn of Africa possesses utmost importance in the realm of geo-politics and was the scene of competition among the Arabs of the Peninsula, the Chinese, Greeks, Romans and Ptomelies who ruled Egypt in antiquity. The Portuguese went to sea as raiders and explorers, discovering the Cape of Good Hope and India, entering the Indian Ocean and the south of the Red Sea. Their entry into the Red Sea coincided with the wars that broke out between the forces Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghazi who attempted to carve away parts from the south of the Abyssinian Empire, which made the Abyssinian Emperor Lebna Dengel request help from the Portuguese to protect him from the Muslims. The Portuguese entered into the southern Red Sea, compelling the Taheris in Yemen to seek assistance from the Mamluks of Egypt. They were followed by the Ottoman conquest which aimed at defending the Muslims from Portuguese invaders as well as bringing together all the Islamic nations under their Caliphate. Their influence extended to the southern Red Sea and they entered Eritrea to impose a stranglehold over the strategic entrance to the Red Sea in 1557 CE. They remained until the end of the 19th Century CE controlling the southern Arab Peninsula and the entrance to the Arabian Sea.

Somalia became an object of ambition to the French, British and Italian colonialists. This excited the greed of its neighbors’ to take their piece of the strategic Somali pie and this resulted in the partition of Somalia into the numbers of fingers on the hand: France colonized French Somalia (Djibouti) in 1884 CE; Britain established a presence for itself in the northern region in 1887 CE; Italy encamped in the south in 1889 CE; Ethiopia took the Ogaden district in 1897 CE; while the east of Somalia became subject to Kenyan control in 1924 CE and was called the NFD (North Frontier District).

The Importance of Somalia to the Enemies of the Ummah

Somalia is situated in the Horn of Africa and possesses great strategic importance to global oil companies due to its proximity to the oil wells of the Gulf, because it is the southern gateway to the Red Sea - an artery of trade - and because of its buried and unexploited wealth. Its coastal boundary extends 3,300 km.

It is not possible to dispense with it because of its situation, especially after the tension that erupted in the Gulf, specifically in the Arabian Peninsula after the appearance of the Qaedat al-Jihad (Organization) there and their initiation of systematic and continuous war against Zionist-Crusader control of the region and their future ambitions there.

This plan focuses upon a region of simultaneous strategic, economic and logistical influence in order for the Horn of Africa to be converted into an area of influence and a base for launching American forces there in the (same) manner as the Gulf region. Specifically, it is a region that controls the straits and gateways to the oceans and seas, in addition to its vast amount of riches and unexploited wealth.

Let us not forget that Somalia is the southern gateway to the Red Sea just as the Suez Canal is considered to be its northern gateway. Nor should we forget that the nuclear nations were using Somali lands as a dumping or burial ground for their nuclear waste. This is radioactive material that is very dangerous to humans and the environment in both the near and far terms and this can directly contaminate groundwater and agricultural lands.

The Shabaab Movement Demolishes America’s Plan in Africa and in the Region

Let us not forget that there is an old American plan by which the Americans have engaged for more than 20 years (precisely when the civil war broke out in the 1990's) in order to create a strategic foothold for themselves in Africa and specifically the East Africa region because of the Horn of Africa and Sudan and because of the oil and rich, and diverse mineral resources.

American goals in Somalia are first embodied in the control over the Somali coasts which possess an important strategic position on the path of global trade so that they could have a hand in competing with France over the Djibouti region which overlooks the Bab al-Mandeb. Among their other goals is destroying Islamic power in Somalia and controlling the Horn of Africa, appropriating the country’s resources in uranium, petroleum and other minerals and try to convince the world of American hegemony and terrorize the movements which are trying to stand against American interests.

The appearance of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen in force and their control over the majority of the country and their application of Islamic Shari’ah constitutes a strong blow and hard strike against them that will undermine its future plans in the region as a whole and not against Somalia only.

The Shabaab movement is not of the kind that accepts bargaining or is content to even think about it, in contrast to other political factions and even many who count themselves among the Deen, as is the case with the fraternal Islamic Courts Union under the leadership of the treacherous apostate Sheikh Sharif.

The Harakat al-Shabaab is another matter and different from all other parties which America has tamed and they have become contained and domesticated merely by winning some political posts and at times by merely lying promises.

This movement has a strategy and vision that reaches further than just attaining power. They have taken upon their shoulders the task of liberating the Muslim Somali people and halting the vicious exploitation of their resources and land by different occupying powers. They have also taken upon their shoulders the liberation of the entire region and uniting together with the Mujahideen in all neighboring countries to oppose every Crusader presence in Muslim lands.

American Fears of a New Adventure in Somalia

America cannot forget the bitterness of its defeat in its previous military experience in Somalia between 1992 and 1994 CE, when American forces sustained huge loss of life and left defeated and humiliated. There are also reports that the enemies of America, especially the Jihadists and the Supporters of al-Qaeda have become more zealous about American interference in any region – including Darfur – in order to weaken American soldiers through casualties in the manner of the failed American experience of past memory.

Specifically, the wounds of the American army continue to bleed in a number of areas of struggle with the Mujahideen, at the top of which are Afghanistan and Iraq. They continue to bleed daily and around the clock across these wide areas, and not just only on the military front. On the economic front they are also bleeding and the effects of these wars have stretched their internal economy and weakened it to its breaking point. It is likely to completely collapse within two years.

There is also no doubt that the Mujahideen in Somalia have become stronger and more organized and experienced than at any time in the past twenty years, which increases American anxiety about even thinking of entering Somalia again. They are content with searching for other means by which they can weaken the Mujahideen front or try to start a new civil war in the country. They do this by their funding and support for the old warlords so that there will not be a victor or a loser in order for a state of violent chaos to continue for an unnamed purpose.

The Anticipated Islamic Front

After the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen and al-Hizbul Islami recently succeeded in unifying their ranks when al-Hizbul al-Islami entered a united front under the leadership of Harakat al-Shabaab, there are now new and broader horizons for the Mujahideen to expand their front in the future.

We must not forget that there are occupied Somali regions which the Mujahideen will consider recovering before contemplating a move to liberate neighboring countries like Djibouti, Puntland and the Somali region of Ogaden which Britain granted as a gift to Ethiopia, the NFD which Britain likewise granted to Kenya as well as the Djibouti district which France incorporated into its colonies before giving it independence from Somalia.

The broad anticipated Islamic front is composed of the Somali front, Qaedat al-Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula, Qaedat al-Jihad in the Islamic Maghreb. This front will constitute an unprecedented development in the history of contemporary Jihadist labor and it will be able to beleaguer the enemies of Allah of all religious hues and political specters. They will go forth to spread Islam and liberate the people of the region without exception in addition to forming a global Islamic army to liberate noble al-Aqsa from the hands of the Jews through the power of Allah.

The Somali People are a Winning Card

There is no doubt that the people have become an object (of the struggle) and a double-edged weapon. They are the material of the fight between two struggling parties. Each party tries to appropriate them for their side to use them as a shield in the conflict with the other party.

Our Muslim people were always a material to be consumed and nothing else. They were subordinate to the strongest party and subjected to a long-term process of degradation by which they reached the point of living in fear of every man of power and violence, submitting to him even if he led them to the abyss. This was until Allah blessed them with parties from within their own midst who perceived the Truth, made clear its path and spread it among those peoples so that they would rebel against those many legacies and break those numerous chains. They began to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between enemy and friend. They were not in awe of falsehood, even if it came in the form of a king of power and violence.

The Somali people have become cannier and more experienced. They have benefitted from past experiences stretching through more than 20 years of vicious civil war. They have suffered successive, corrupt political leaders who aspired only to serve the interests of themselves and their factions. The people have gained what we can call political acumen to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, and between righteousness and corruption.

Just as happened in Afghanistan, the leaders of Jihad and their preachers have been able to attract many of the chiefs of the Somali clans and tribes who have given their complete loyalty to the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen and have pushed their sons to be soldiers in the ranks of the Mujahideen, to plug the breach as long as the Crusaders try to exploit it: their attempt to buy the minds of the tribes with money so that they stand in the way of the Mujahideen expansion, like what happened in Iraq with the formation of the treacherous so-called Awakening Councils and like what the Crusaders are trying to replicate in Afghanistan.

In a press conference called by Sheikh Tahlil Ali Shayti, the leader of the “Mahmud Hirab” tribe, one of the largest tribes in south and central Somalia, and the mayor of “Hayntiri”; Sheikh Abdullah Muhammad Hannaf along with the merchants and scholars of the tribe; “Mahmud Hirab” stressed that they would never forsake the Mujahideen whom they had supported since the 1990’s. They are the fuel of the Jihad in Somalia.

So the Somali people with all their factions have today gathered around the Mujahideen led by Harakat al-Shabaab. They have joined in battalions the ranks of their fighters to recover their rights and to be a direct agent of change and in eradicating those criminals who have kept them from their Deen and Dunya. Even the tribes and clans have declared their allegiance to the Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen and offered their sons as soldiers in the ranks of the movement to participate in the comprehensive liberation and reawakening in Muslim lands.

This is the winning card which the Mujahideen possess, after the aid of Allah, His Support and their reliance upon the Almighty. This is the card against which the Crusaders no longer have any response. Victory is at the door! It is closer than at any time in the past!

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all that Exists.

Penned by:
Abu Abdullah Anas

Footnote:
[1] I mean mainly al-Hizbul Islami, the Ras Kamboni forces and the Umar al-Faruq camp...

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Submitted by a Mujahid

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