It’s those uber-fashionable Islamic insurgents!
Islamic insurgents seized a strategic port city in Somalia on Wednesday, raising fears that they were gearing up for an assault on the capital, about 50 miles away.
The fighters, wearing red head scarves and chanting “God is great,” marched into Marka without firing a shot. Government troops had fled the night before upon hearing that an attack was imminent, residents said.
I hear that they also had very chic green smocks and some of those cool shoes that Don Johnson always wore in Miami Vice.
The seizure of Marka comes amid peace talks between the government and one opposition faction. But the most dangerous insurgent group, Shabab, which has acknowledged ties with Al Qaeda, has rejected the negotiations and vowed to overthrow the government.
The same group took responsibility for Wednesday’s seizure. Several local government officials have been assassinated in the city in the last month, including the acting governor and a deputy police commissioner.
“Our martyrs are in full control of the town,” Mohammed Awil, a Shabab commander, said by telephone from Marka. “We will govern all of Somalia through Islamic law, reaching our goal step by step.”
So, they weren’t just Islamic insurgents (props to the LA Times for even going that far in the title and the story), but Al Qaeda. Good to know. And a great fashion sense.
These would be the same people who publicly stoned a 13 year old girl to death last month. Since the “real enemy” is in Afghanistan, I wonder if the new Obama administration will turn a blind eye to what is happening in the Horn of Africa?
WWBD?
Meanwhile, off the coast of Somalia, some pirates made the mistake of engaging the Royal Navy.
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