Somalia's Islamists threaten to keep attacking ‘disbelievers’

PanARMENIAN.Net - Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab rebel group threatened to keep attacking "disbelievers" without respite, a day after launching a deadly assault against the United Nations in the capital Mogadishu, Reuters reported.

Security was tight on Thursday, June 20, as Somali army pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns blocked the main road linking the city center with the fortified airport and nearby UN base that was targeted. A water canon truck blasted away bloodstains on the street.

The al Qaeda-linked militants were driven out of Mogadishu almost two years ago by African peacekeepers and government troops. Wednesday's attack, which killed 22 people including four foreigners, highlighted the fragility of security gains and the insurgents' ability to strike at government-controlled areas.

"Our aim is to expel the disbelievers from Muslim lands," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's spokesman for military operations, told Reuters. "Until that goal is achieved, the disbelievers will never find a safe haven in Mogadishu or in any other Muslim land. Not today, not tomorrow, not as long as a single Muslim is alive."