Why has the U.S. “given the warlords money and intelligence help to rein in ‘creeping Talibanization’ in Somalia, while doing nothing about creeping Talibanization in Iraq or Afghanistan?
“Islamists seize Mogadishu from warlords,” from AFP, with thanks to JE:
Somali Islamists have declared victory over a US-backed warlord alliance and are preparing to take over the capital, Mogadishu.
Having captured nearly all of Mogadishu and a key warlord supply line on its northern outskirts at the weekend, the Islamists are formalising their seizure in a surrender and handover meeting with remnants of the alliance.
In a statement read over local radio stations, the chairman of the city’s Joint Islamic Courts (JIC), Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, said 15 years of warlord control of Mogadishu was over and urged residents to accept the new leadership.
“The Joint Islamic Courts are not interested in a continuation of hostilities and will fully implement peace and security after the change has been made by the victory of the people with the support of Allah,” he said….
The courts, which have repeatedly denied the charges, had declared a holy war against the ARCPT and denounced its funding by the United States, which clerics assailed as an “enemy of Islam.”
The US neither publicly confirmed nor denied Washington’s support for the alliance but US officials say they have given the warlords money and intelligence help to rein in “creeping Talibanization” in Somalia.