Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Abu Mansour, a top official in the Somali al-Shabaab militia, today announced plans for the organization to send fighters across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen to take part in jihad there.
The al-Shabaab faction is one of the more hardline of various factions vying for control of Somalia, was presenting hundreds of new recruits at a rally in northern Mogadishu, and said that Yemeni factions should “be ready for our welcome.”
The US has made clear their intentions to dramatically escalate their ongoing but heretofore covert war in Yemen, and as the nation has made enemies with its years of on-again off-again meddling in Somalia, al-Shabaab seems eager to cash in on anti-American sentiment by focusing on Yemen. This is an unusual move for the group, however, which generally does not operate outside of Somalia.
The Canadian government was the first to react to the announcement, saying that their anti-piracy warship in the Gulf of Aden would stand ready to stop any Shabaab crossings to Yemen. Since Yemen is a popular destination for refugees from the various nations along the Horn of Africa, it may not be easy to determine who is a militant and who is merely a refugee.
W0W, One has to really wonder what is with Canada… Are they really actively seeking to intervene
in affairs in Yemen..?? I wonder how they would react if the Yemenis or Somalis put a "gunboat" in the Gulf of St Lawrence to impede migration between St. Pierre and their mainland…. Can't be too careful..
More importantly, perhaps they may want to consider what they would do if the Yemeni gunboat killed a some of their local fisherman with whatever sort of guns the Canadians have on their "gunboat "…. 50 millimeter are they..??? There are lessons to be learned here… The Canadian healthcare system seems to leave the Canadians surplus funds to troll around the Arabian Peninsula looking for migrants to resist theirs and other colonial occupations and interference… Good luck Canada..!! You go respond to these inter Arabian difficulties…. More meddling, yaa, what a great idea… Fools rush in where angels tend to a be bit more circumspect.
Ok, here we go. Clusterfuck ahoi.
Why does Canada feel entitled to interdict random boats in the Guld of Aden again? Because it's the North Atlantic? Because Yemen asked them to?