War and Conflict Journal

Kenyan forces intervene in southern Somalia to battle the al-Shabab Islamist militia.  Shabab has engaged in terrorist activities in Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya, and is allied with al-Qaida.

Kenya and the Transitional Somali government are supported by the United States.  And, can it be a coincidence that this intevention by an American-allied African nation takes place only two days after President Obama announces the American intervention in the Lord’s Resistance Army Insurgency that has bedeviled Uganda, southern Sudan, Congo, and the Central African Republic?  Note that Uganda,  has thousands of troops in Somalia in support of the transitional government.

http://www.historyguy.com/somalia_conflict_shabab_war.htm

The Lords’ Resistance Army (LRA) Insurgency in Uganda

http://www.historyguy.com/lords_resistance_army_insurgency.htm

Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)

The insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) of Joseph Krony against the government of Uganda began in 1987 in the aftermath of the failed Holy Spirit Movement Rebellion of Alice Auma (also known as Alice Lakwena). After the Holy Spirit Movement lost a major battle against the Ugandan government at th ebattle of Jinja, Alice Auma fled to Kenya while Joseph Kony emerged as the leader of the remaining rebel forces. With Kony’s assumption of power came a shift in the rebels’ strategy and a new name: the Lord’s Resistance Army. Krony declared himself to be a prophet, emerging as a “Spirit Guide,” and inspired his rebel troops to fight the Ugandan government.

Krony’s beliefs (or tactics) emerged from a twisted understanding of Christian and local spiritualist pagan beliefs. His Lord’s Resistance Army is as much a cult as it is a military force. The LRA insurgency gained control of most of northern Uganda, with significan aid from the government of Sudan, which was in conflict with the Ugandan government.

In line with the cult-like beliefs of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Kony’s forces exhibited incredible brutality on the civilian populations they encountered. Women would be raped, children kidnapped and forced to join the LRA as “child soldiers,” anyone who broke the the arcane rules of the LRA would have their hands or other limbs cut off.

In 2005, Kony was indicted by the International Criminal Court for leading the LRA in a campaign of “murder, abduction, sexual enslavement, mutilation, as well as mass burnings of houses and looting of camp settlements”during his insurgency, and for personally ordering his troops to target and kill civilian populations.

Over the years, repeated Ugandan military offensives reclaimed most of the territory controlled by the Lord’s Resistance Army.

As his control over northern Uganda waned, Kony led his dwindling army through the borderlands of Uganda, southern Sudan, the Congo, and the Central African Repbublic. Everywhere he travelled, his men killed, raped, pillaged, and looted civilian populations. In October, 2011, American President Barack Obama announced that 100 “combat-ready” American Special Forces troops were joining with the Ugandan military to hunt down Kony and bring him to justice.

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On August 18, 2011, squads of heavily-armed Popular Resistance Committee (PRC)  guerrillas from Gaza travelled about 120 miles through Egyptian Sinai to attack Israeli citizens near the southern Israeli city of Eilat, killing eight Israelis. Israel retaliated with airstrikes on targets inside Gaza. The PRC is a relatively small Palestinian resistance group that has at times served as an ally of Hamas.

This attack on Israel took place just as Egyptian forces began targeting Salafist Islamist guerrillas who have been attacking Egyptian  pipelines in the Sinai. These attacks by bySalafist Islamist forces believed tied to al-Qaida, prompted Egypt’s military rulers to seek permission from both Israel (due to troop level restrictions in their mutual peace agreement), and from Hamas, the Palestinian faction that rules over Gaza.  Egypt sent over 1,000 security forces backed by armored personell carriers launched a campaign to defeat the Islamist guerrillas.

 http://www.historyguy.com/gaza_war.htm#gazawar2011

http://www.historyguy.com/wars_of_egypt.html

See also:

New York Times Article on the escalating drone war against al-Qaida and Shahab in Somalia at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/world/africa/02somalia.html

Osama bin Laden is dead.  See the links below for details…

http://www.historyguy.com/islamist_terror_attacks_in_america.htm

http://www.historyguy.com/new_war/bin_laden.html

Pakistan says army airstrikes kill 12 militants | Seattle Times Mobile. Here is the link <a href=”http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mobile/?type=story&id=2013227153&”>http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mobile/?type=story&id=2013227153&</

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A new leftist guerrilla group in Greece, calling itself the Sect of Revolutionaries — also known as the Rebel Sect,
 is seeking to further disrupt the economy and targets the police.  See the article on Time.com

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2009204,00.html

Yemen has long been connected to the family of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist organization. The bin Laden family originated in Yemen prior to settling in Saudi Arabia and becoming wealthy in the construction business. Like Afghanistan and Somalia, other favorite bases for al-Qaida, Yemen status as a nation with a fairly weak central government and the frequent conflicts inside Yemen’s borders makes the poor Arabian nation a good location for al-Qaida to hide, recruit, and plan further attacks on the West and on others. In October of 2000, al-Qaida operatives rammed a small boat into the side of an American warship, the USS Cole, blasting a hole in the side of the ship and killing 17 American sailors. A year later, in October, 2002, al-Qaida attacked a French oil tanker, killing one, and causing the spillage of 100,000 gallons of oil. In September, 2008, al-Qaida attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a in a car bomb attack followed by a gun battle with Embassy guards. The Yemeni government has worked with the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. in combating the al-Qaida presence in Yemen. In 2002, an American Predator drone controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed a vehicle in Yemen containing several al-Qaida operatives. Airstrikes against al-Qaida targets in Yemen in 2009, prior to the Christmas Day airliner attack, are believed to have been conducted with significant American aid, though officially the attacks were conducted by the Yemeni government.

In early January, 2010, General David Petraeus,..READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT: http://www.historyguy.com/yemen_history_wars_politics.htm

 Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the North African branch of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Italians on December 18 in Mauritania, according to the Al-Arabiya TV channel, which is based in Dubai.

The abductions of the Italians are similar to the way three Spaniards were seized  in late November, 2009   by al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.

 Over the past two year,  al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb claimed a series of attacks in Mauritania, including the assassination in late 2007 of four French citizens in Aleg (about 150 miles east of the capital of Nouakchott) and an American in June in Nouakchott.

Attempt to Bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, 2009

Northwest Airlines Flight 253 After Attempted Terrorist Attack

The Islamist terror network al-Qaida apparantly made an attempt to attack the United States on Christmas Day, 2009. A Nigerian man named Abdul Mudallab attempted to ignite an explosive device onboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it neared the airport in Detroit, Michigan on December 25, 2009. Early reports indicate Mudallab claimed a connection to al-Qaida, though later reports say he denied any such connection.

Reports indicate that Mudallab, an an engineering student at University College of London, took a flight from Nigeria to the Netherlands, where he then boarded the American plane on a route to Detroit. About 20 minutes from the Detroit airport, fellow passengers smelled smoke, and noticed that Mudallab was attempting to ignite something. A passenger jumped on Mudallab, and apparently interrupted an attempt to cause a mid-air explosion. The suspect was seen with burns to his legs, and the passenger who jumped on him also is reported to have suffered burns.

Airport and airlines security worldwide was tightened in response to this attack. U.S. officials are treating this incident as an attempted terrorist attack.

Links and Resources:

 http://www.historyguy.com/airplane_attempted_bombing_christmasday_2009.htm

Jet passengers overpowered would-be bomber–LA Times, Dec. 25, 2009

Statement by Department of Homeland Security Press Secretary Sara Kuban–Dept. of Homeland Security Press Release, Dec. 25, 2009