SOMALIA: 5 INNOCENT CIVILIANS Were MURDERED When A Minibus Was Blown Apart In A Grenade Attack By Islamist Militant Group Al-Shabaab. This Is The 4th Attack In 3 Weeks! But Pres Obama Wants Americans To Believe Al-Qaeda Has Been Defeated!

Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen (HSM) ("Mujahideen Youth Movement" or "Movement of Striving Youth"), more commonly known as al-Shabaab, is the Somalia-based cell of the militant Islamist group al-Qaeda, formally recognized in 2012. As of 2012, the outfit controls large swathes of the southern parts of the country, where it is said to have imposed its own strict form of Sharia law. Al-Shabaab's troop strength as of May 2011 was estimated at 14,426 militants. In February 2012, Al-Shabaab leaders quarreled with Al-Qaeda over the union, and quickly lost ground.

The group is an off-shoot of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which splintered into several smaller factions after its defeat in 2006 by the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the TFG's Ethiopian military allies. Al-Shabaab describes itself as waging jihad against "enemies of Islam", and is engaged in combat against the TFG and the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Alleging ulterior motives on the part of foreign organizations, group members have also reportedly intimidated, kidnapped and killed aid workers, leading to a suspension of humanitarian operations and an exodus of relief agents. Al-Shabaab has been designated a terrorist organization by several Western governments and security services. As of June 2012, the United States Department of State has open bounties on several of the outfit's senior commanders. [source: wikipedia]

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France24 news

Several killed in grenade attack on Nairobi bus

written by Reuters staff

Sunday November 18, 2012

A grenade tore through a minibus in Nairobi’s Somali-dominated Eastleigh neighbourhood on Sunday, killing at least five people in an attack highlighting the security risks Kenya faces because of its intervention in Somalia to fight Islamist militants.

Kenya has suffered a string of deadly attacks in its capital Nairobi, the southern port city of Mombasa as well as the eastern garrison town of Garissa over the past year.

The attacks have been blamed on Somali militants and their sympathisers in retaliation for Kenya’s deployment of troops in neighbouring Somalia last year to drive out al Qaeda-linked militants which Nairobi has blamed for attacks on its territory.

“I saw bodies ripped apart,” said a Reuters photographer at the scene of the blast. He saw a crowd lifting five dead bodies wrapped in sacks onto the back of a police vehicle.

The force of the explosion left only the charred skeleton of the minibus, the orange seats ripped apart. The windows of a nearby cafe were shattered and two other cars were damaged.

Nairobi regional police commander Moses Ombati said the grenade had been thrown into the minibus, commonly referred to as matatus in Kenya.

The Kenya Red Cross said on its Twitter account that seven people had been killed and 24 people had been taken to hospital.

“I just heard a blast. I thought I’d hit something. The van was suddenly thrown upwards,” the matatu’s driver, Bernard Kibe, told reporters at the scene. He said the matatu had been filled to capacity, with about 25 people onboard.

Lax security

The attacks in Kenya have intensified since Kenyan troops, alongside African Union forces, launched an offensive seven weeks ago against al Shabaab’s last major urban stronghold, the Somali port of Kismayu, forcing the rebels to flee.

“There’s a laxity on the side of the government. This is the fourth attack in three weeks,” said bystander Maurice Ouma, as a police siren wailed by.

“The government has to take responsibility for providing security for its citizens,” he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but tensions rose in Eastleigh, a Nairobi district often refered to as “Little Mogadishu”.

Witnesses reported Kenyan nationals throwing stones at Somalis in Eastleigh, apparently blaming them for the attack, a sentiment shared by Ouma.

“It’s unfortunate that now people we’re hosting are actually turning against us,” he said. Police fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

In September Kenyan police said they seized more than 150 detonators in Nairobi.

In July, masked assailants launched simultaneous gun and grenade attacks on two churches in Garissa, killing at least 17 people.

Armed cattle raiders killed at least 32 Kenyan police officers in a military-style ambush last weekend. The attack exposed how ill-equipped Kenya’s police force is as it faces challenges on several fronts, including a presidential election next March.