Kenya navy officers take 24hr patrol within the Somali waters at Ras
Kamboni,
monitoring any activities of al-Shabaab. Photo/Laban Walloga.
Monday, January 09, 2012
Al-Shabaab has released a propaganda video declaring war against Kenya.The video was released by Sheikh Ahmed Iman Ali, the self-proclaimed de facto leader of Kenyan Al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia.
Sheikh Ali in the video recording entitled: If they
seek your help in religion, it is your duty to help them, says war or
Jihad should now be waged in Kenya in response to the military operation
in Somalia.
“Kenya has declared war against Somalia and Jihad
should now be waged inside Kenya which is legally a war zone,” Sheikh
Ali says in the video.The video which was initially posted on YouTube but has since
been withdrawn can still be viewed on other social media networks.
He says the war Kenya is fighting in Somalia is not
against Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab or terrorists but the terms are being used
to camouflage the truth.
The report of the UN Somalia and Eritrea Monitoring
Group indicates that Sheikh Ali, a former chairman of Muslim Youth
Centre in Pumwani, Nairobi, was central in the recruitment of
non-Somalis in Nairobi to join Al- Shabaab fighters in Somalia.
The report says Al-Shabaab “has extensive funding,
recruiting and training networks within Kenya” and has “established
connections with jihadist groups across the continent.”
The UN investigation that focused on the youth centre claims
that the organisation was involved in the recruitment of Al-Shabaab
operatives. Officials of MYC have since distanced themselves from Sheikh
Ali and the recruitment of Kenyans to join Al-Shabaab.
“Officially, the MYC Constitution defines the group
as a ‘community based-organisation’ that aims to provide youth with
religious counselling ... In practice, members of the group openly
engage in recruiting for Al-Shabaab in Kenya,” the report claims.
“Ahmed Iman’s success in recruiting fighters and
mobilising funds for the cause, appear to have earned him steady
ascendancy within Al-Shabaab. The Monitoring Group believes that he now
intends to conduct large-scale attacks in Kenya.