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Small group of Somali al Shabaab swear allegiance to Islamic State
Source: Reuters
World | Fri Oct 23, 2015 7:56am EDT
Small group of Somali al Shabaab swear allegiance to Islamic State
MOGADISHU | BY ABDI SHEIKH
A senior al Shabaab commander and about 20 of his followers have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, the first move of its kind to emerge in the Somali militant group.
There was no immediate reaction from al Shabaab's overall leadership, which aligned itself in 2012 to al Qaeda, a group that has declared Islamic State's leader illegitimate.
Experts have been watching to see if the rise of Islamic State in Syria, Iraq and other battlefields, would draw al Shabaab's public support, but said the impact of any such alliance would be largely symbolic given geographical distance would hinder an exchange of material supplies.
"We, the mujahideen of Somalia, declare allegiance to the caliph as Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Awad al-Qurashi," Abdiqadir Mumin, an al Shabaab commander in the Puntland region of Somalia, said in an audio tape published on YouTube.
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Small group of Somali al Shabaab swear allegiance to Islamic State
MOGADISHU | BY ABDI SHEIKH
A senior al Shabaab commander and about 20 of his followers have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, the first move of its kind to emerge in the Somali militant group.
There was no immediate reaction from al Shabaab's overall leadership, which aligned itself in 2012 to al Qaeda, a group that has declared Islamic State's leader illegitimate.
Experts have been watching to see if the rise of Islamic State in Syria, Iraq and other battlefields, would draw al Shabaab's public support, but said the impact of any such alliance would be largely symbolic given geographical distance would hinder an exchange of material supplies.
"We, the mujahideen of Somalia, declare allegiance to the caliph as Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Awad al-Qurashi," Abdiqadir Mumin, an al Shabaab commander in the Puntland region of Somalia, said in an audio tape published on YouTube.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/23/us-mideast-crisis-somalia-idUSKCN0SH1BF20151023
