Somali insurgents behead 7 people
- |
NAIROBI - Somali Islamist fighters yesterday beheaded seven prisoners accused of abandoning the Muslim faith and spying for the government in the largest mass execution since the Islamists were pushed from power two and a half years ago.
The public killings in the southwestern town of Baidoa followed weeks of fierce fighting as the Islamists try to seize Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, amid mounting concerns about the influx of hundreds of foreign fighters to the failed state.
The beheadings may be linked to the Islamists’ failure to take Mogadishu after a two-month offensive, said a senior analyst at global intelligence company Stratfor. “Al Shabab is reacting to a setback,’’ said Mark Schroeder.
The United States considers Al Shabab a terrorist group with links to Al Qaeda, which Al Shabab denies. The group controls much of Somalia and its fighters operate openly in the capital.
Last month, the Obama administration announced that it would bolster efforts to support Somalia’s embattled government by providing money for weapons and helping the military in neighboring Djibouti train Somali forces. An administration review of US policy toward Somalia found an urgent need to supply the Somali government with ammunition and weapons as it struggles to confront increasingly powerful Islamic militants.
Government troops and African Union peacekeepers hold only a few blocks of Mogadishu, but they still control key government buildings as well as the port and airport, allowing them to receive arms shipments.
Schroeder said elements of the insurgency, always prone to splits, may have wanted to make a public show of strength after the failure to decisively capture Mogadishu.
