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"is nominally led by Sheikh Mohamed Mukhtar Abdirahman (Abu Zubeyr), though experts say a core group of senior leaders guide its actions. The group is divided into three geographical units: Bay and Bokool regions, led by Mukhtar Roobow (Abu Mansur), the group's spokesman; south-central Somalia and Mogadishu; and Puntland and Somaliland."
"A fourth unit, which controls the Juba Valley, is led by Hassan Abdillahi Hersi (Turki), who is not considered to be a (group) member, but is closely aligned with it. These regional units 'appear to operate independently of one another, and there is often evidence of friction between them,' according to a December 2008 UN Monitoring Group report."
"Experts strongly caution that there is little the United States can do to weaken Shabab." They say US-launched air strikes and support for a loathed government "only increased (its) popular support...."
Former UIC shura council leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys now heads his own group, Hisbul Islam, allied with Al-Shabaab and others against TRG/African Union Forces. On November 5, the independent news web site, Garowe Online (garowonline.com), reported him saying that:
"his group (and Al-Shabaab are) fighting to liberate the Somali people and impose Islamic Sharia law....We told (Mogadishu) businessmen to join the war....(urged them) to contribute in rebuilding the destroyed roads in Mogadishu," help restore stability in the country, and support its liberation.
Like the US-funded, armed and trained Afghan mujaheddin (Islamist guerrillas Ronald Reagan called "freedom fighters") and the country's current Taliban resistance, Al-Shabaab, Hisbul Islam, and other Islamist fighters want Somalia freed from the US-backed TFG government and African Union paramilitaries.
Insurgency defeated Soviet forces in Afghanistan, and let the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) consolidate power in 2006 before Ethiopian invaders ousted them. According to Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, non-Somali Islamic fighters have joined them. Washington calls them terrorists, the usual designation for anyone against imperial aggression and dominance.
Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
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