Al Shabaab Captures Somali Port

Al Shabaab, an al Qaida linked terrorist group, captured Kismayu a port city in southern Somalia. Al Shabaab should be familiar to our regular readers. Pirates linked to al Shabaab regularly hijack cargo ship for ransom off the coast of Somalia, mainly in the Gulf of Aden. With the capture of the southern port I suspect we might soon see more cargo ships hijacked in the waters close to Kismayu. Reuters

In other Somali news, a Japanese Cargo ship avoided a hijacking by jihadi pirates. Pirates off the coast of Somalia have captured four other cargo ships earlier in the week. WTOP News
Also two journalists, an Australian and Canadian, have been kidnapped by gunman in southern Somalia. International Herald

KISMAYU, Somalia, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Bodies littered this strategic port in southern Somalia and unidentified planes soared overhead on Saturday, a day after it was seized by Islamist rebels in fighting that killed at least 70 people.

The loss of Kismayu to the al-Shabaab insurgents was another blow for Somalia's interim government, which signed a peace deal with some opposition figures last week that has only seemed to stoke violence in the Horn of Africa nation.

Hopefully those unidentified planes are Predator drones ready to drop some Hellfire on the terrorists....

A spokesman for Somali opposition hardliners based in Eritrea congratulated the insurgents on seizing Kismayu.

"We'll continue our war against militiamen and all troops until we rule the whole country by Islamic law," said Ismail Adow of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia.

"God willing, we shall establish an administration for Kismayu in the coming days," he told Reuters by telephone from Asmara.