East Africa Destabilization

[luke wilson]

Kenya: Second explosion in Nairobi

_http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/24/world/africa/kenya-nightclub-attack/?hpt=wo_c2

[...]The explosions came two days after the U.S. Embassy in Kenya warned it had credible information of an imminent terror attack. The embassy did not offer details on who might carry out such an attack but said it had limited official U.S. government visits and urged citizens to consider deferring travel to Kenya.

The attack was likely to target places that foreigners congregate in Kenya, including malls and night clubs, the embassy said.

Kenya has been on edge since it sent troops across the border into Somalia to pursue militants with Al-Shabaab, an Islamist group that the United States and other countries consider a terrorist organization. Kenya sent troops into Somalia after the recent abductions of tourists and aid workers in Kenya. It blames the abductions on Al-Shabaab, which has denied involvement.

Al-Shabaab has threatened to attack Kenya if it does not withdraw its forces from Somalia.[...]

_http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15435663

A blast has gone off at a bus stop in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, killing at least one person, police say.

An earlier grenade attack on a bar in the city wounded 12 people.

The attacks happened two days after the US embassy in Kenya warned that an attack by Islamist militants from neighbouring Somalia was imminent.

But Kenyan Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere said there was no evidence linking the nightclub attack to the militants from the al-Shabab group.

The Kenyan government sent troops to Somalia more than a week ago to pursue the militants after accusing them of being behind a spate of abductions on its territory.

Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda and controls much of southern and central Somalia, denies involvement in the kidnappings but has warned of reprisals if Kenyan troops do not withdraw from Somalia.
Grenade

Police said the explosion on Monday evening occurred at the OTC bus terminal in downtown Nairobi, which is usually a busy part of the city.
A victim of the first explosion in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on 24 October 2011 waits in the emergency wing of Kenyatta National Hospital Witnesses said a man threw a grenade into the nightclub and fled the scene overnight

Kenya's Red Cross said on its Twitter feed that eight casualties had been rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital.

The BBC's Odhiambho Joseph in Nairobi says 18 people were wounded in total.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that the blast happened after a hand grenade was thrown at a moving matatu minibus taxis which bounced back and exploded where passengers were waiting for transport.

In the early hours of Monday morning a man threw a grenade into the Mwauras nightclub and fled the scene, witnesses said. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Our reporter says the attacks have prompted the authorities to ban fireworks for this week's Hindu festival of Diwali.

Last December three people died during a grenade attack at a bus in Nairobi. It was never clear who was behind it.

Correspondents say that although both attacks were small, they will nevertheless cause a great deal of anxiety in Kenya.

Kenyan Military heavily involved in Somalia..

_http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Kenyan+forces+well+trained+for+operation+/-/440808/1261798/-/stc9vnz/-/index.html

[....]Kenyan military training is heavily based on the British and American systems and is therefore world class.[....]

_http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Voices+from+combat+front+line+/-/1056/1261270/-/miedqqz/-/index.html

[...]Abdi Kadir Ali could not tolerate the air strikes and gun shots Kenyan defence forces have been directing at Salagle Town of Lower Juba in Somalia.

“The warplanes are covering the skies and because of the sounds of missiles landing on the ground and the scaring picture of the machines hovering above us, we cannot sleep. So we decided to cross the border into refugee camps in Kenya,” Mr Ali, who was accompanied by his wife and their newly born baby, told reporters at Abdi Sugow cutline near the Kenya-Somalia border.[...]

The country is in bed with the biggest bullies walking this planet... Well either that or get bombed back to nowhere I guess.

It should be noted that Kenya has a huge somalian population and so It should be interesting to see how this affects the relationship between the somalian and non-somalian natives of the country.

 

[luke wilson]

France to support Kenya's incursion into Somalia (French? what are french doing in Kenya? this is a former british colony)

_http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15446110

Historic by all accounts. The kenyan military has never attacked another country or involved in any sort of action apart from UN PeaceKeeping. Now it is spearheading the incursion into somalia with troops on the ground with western forces "providing support"...

Libya is done now it is time to move afield!

_http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27310

In the wake of NATO's "humanitarian" R2P intervention in Libya, which is by no means over, the Pentagon has chosen to launch two more "unnoticed" wars in the African continent: Somalia and Uganda.[...]

At most, Washington and Paris are saying that they are offering vague, logistical support. The Financial Times quotes Scott Gration, the US ambassador to Kenya, saying: “We are talking with the Kenyans right now to figure out where they need help.”

In a telling remark indicating self-censorship by the newspaper, the Financial Times noted without further questioning that Gration “did not comment on reports of a series of US drone attacks across southern Somalia in the months since June”.

However, such denials are contradicted by Kenyan and pro-Western Somali military officials who clearly state that American and French forces have bombed Somali civilian centres, including Afmadow, Kismayu and Kadhaa, which have resulted in hundreds of deaths. Kenyan Major Emmanuel Chirchir referring to US drone attacks and French naval bombardment said: “Everybody is in theatre… We know about the strikes. They are complementary.”

On 16 October, Kenya appeared to make a “surprise” invasion of neighbouring Somalia by land, sea and air forces. But 10 days later, with increasing bombardment of towns in Somalia’s southern region, reports of hundreds of civilian casualties and large-scale displacement of people, it is becoming clear that this is no “hot pursuit” cross-border swoop against kidnappers allegedly belonging to the Al Shabab Islamist insurgency – but rather a full-scale war. [...]

Edit: Wrong link.

 

[bngenoh]

Yeah, it seems the goverment is obeying orders like a "good dog". Sending troops to another country while you can't even feed, clothe, and provide health care to all your peoples.

They should know that what goes around comes around.

 

[luke wilson]

Yeah, it seems the goverment is obeying orders like a "good dog". Sending troops to another country while you can't even feed, clothe, and provide health care to all your peoples.

They should know that what goes around comes around.

I hate to say this but the Kenyan government was bought and paid for years ago...

I have been watching some interviews of normal kenyans on the streets talking about this incursion and most of them are spewing the same crap westerners say "National security bla bla bla"(the same manipulations are being used to garner public support). There is also some sectarianism coming to the foreground with some kenyans asking for 'all somalians to be deported back to there country'. The president aswell gave a speech where he was pretty much reading off a hymn sheet you would think he was a western leader... However, in East Africa the country has done well economically and experienced massive growth.

There was also no parliamentary vote or oversight with this incursion and kenya is big on parliament doing its thing... Not really a place for open dictators. (More like veiled ones)

From the same link..

Many Kenyans have deep misgivings about their government’s nubile proxy military role. The country is also at risk of famine and its military capability is hitherto untested. Kenyans have noted the way their government launched into Somalia – with which they share much common tribal ancestry – without any public discussion (suggesting orders were taken from Washington and Paris). And they fear that their country could become involved in a bloody regional quagmire that will take human suffering in an already suffering region to untold levels of misery.

Funny they mention famine, the troop advancement was halted by very 'heavy rains'.

 

[bngenoh]

I hate to say this but the Kenyan government was bought and paid for years ago...

Very true that it was bought and paid for years ago

I have been watching some interviews of normal kenyans on the streets talking about this incursion and most of them are spewing the same crap westerners say "National security bla bla bla"(the same manipulations are being used to garner public support). There is also some sectarianism coming to the foreground with some kenyans asking for 'all somalians to be deported back to there country'. The president aswell gave a speech where he was pretty much reading off a hymn sheet you would think he was a western leader... However, in East Africa the country has done well economically and experienced massive growth.

i guess compared to it's neighbours it has experienced massive growth, but alot of that is going to the already wealthy which is not suprising, since they are busy mimicking anything "Western."

There was also no parliamentary vote or oversight with this incursion and kenya is big on parliament doing its thing... Not really a place for open dictators. (More like veiled ones)

From the same link..

Many Kenyans have deep misgivings about their government’s nubile proxy military role. The country is also at risk of famine and its military capability is hitherto untested. Kenyans have noted the way their government launched into Somalia – with which they share much common tribal ancestry – without any public discussion (suggesting orders were taken from Washington and Paris). And they fear that their country could become involved in a bloody regional quagmire that will take human suffering in an already suffering region to untold levels of misery.

How soon we forget ourselves

Funny they mention famine, the troop advancement was halted by very 'heavy rains'.

AHH, good ol mama nature

 

[Mr. Premise]

Three of these articles are up on SOTT now, so if you guys want to add your comments to the articles, that would be great.

 

[Mr. Premise]

This http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/oct2011/keny-o26.shtml has been added with some background on CIA involvement.

 

[bngenoh]

The consequences _http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/apr/05/somalia-suicide-bomb-camera-video?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038

Of psychopathic fun and games:

An attack by a female suicide bomber in Mogadishu is caught on camera. Ten people, including top sports officials, died in the explosion at the newly reopened National Theatre, which happened as the country's prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, was on the podium to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Somalia's first satellite broadcaster

 

[bngenoh]

Let's position ourselves first:

As you can see Sudan occupies a very strategic position, straddling East, North and Central Africa, and one of the areas that have been targeted for destabilization. Now Sudan has been divided into South and North Sudan, this state of affairs was officially recognized on July 9th 2011. So let's take a look at the politics:

The Sudanese ambassador to Tehran says the US and Israel play a key role in sowing seeds of discord and fueling the country's civil war and the unrest in its south.

“The Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, is likely to be escalating the conflict,” Suleiman Abdel Towab told Press TV on Sunday.

[...]

“Sudan is like a bridge between Africans, Arabs and Muslims, So Israel and the US seek to control the Sudanese government and impose sanctions on it,” he said.

Towab underscored Sudan has shown it enjoys good potential for development and progress, managing to make great strides in times of sanctions and economic hardships.

“Sudan is the second biggest country after China in terms of economic growth,” the Sudanese ambassador said.

Remember this:

Sudanese authorities said they began investigating the targeted bombing of a car late Tuesday night in the coastal city of Port Sudan on the Red Sea. The incident in the east of the country led to the death of two people. A police statement quoted by the official Sudanese news agency conveyed that the missile struck a car on the main highway, 15 km south of Port Sudan, killing two people who were traveling the car.

According to the statement it immediately after the incident, security forces rushed to the scene and set up an operation room in order to determine the source of the attack. A Sudanese website, which is close to the country's security service said the aircraft bombed the car near the airport in Port Sudan, without giving further details.

A local official said that an unidentified aircraft coming from the direction of the Red Sea coast were launched a missile on a car when it was en route from Port Sudan airport into the city, killing two people on board. Sudanese sources said that the country's air defense forces fired anti-aircraft fire but could not hit the plane.

The possible culprits:

To reach its territory, Israeli aircraft would have needed overflight permission from either Saudi Arabia or Egypt. Both border the Red Sea south of Israel, and neither is a fan of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Long experience with Egyptian meddling predisposes Khartoum to blame Cairo for a great deal, though on Wednesday its foreign minister was naming only Israel.

"This is absolutely an Israeli attack," Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti told reporters. He found in the air strike evidence of a plot to keep Sudan on the State Department's list of countries that support terror.

It's not something we didn't already know so just fwiw, because things are starting to heat up again:

Sudan declared a state of emergency on Sunday along much of its border with South Sudan as the momentum toward all-out war continues to build after weeks of clashes over disputed areas and oil.

Same old, same old psychopathic fun and games.

 

[bngenoh]

The U.S. military is using small spy aircraft disguised as private planes as it expands secret intelligence operations across Africa, The Washington Post reported late Wednesday.

The surveillance missions are part of a "growing shadow war against al-Qaida affiliates and other militant groups," the newspaper said.

Citing a former U.S. commander, the Post said about dozen air bases have been set up for the unarmed spy planes in Africa since 2007. The newspaper said they include sites in Burkina Faso, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya as well as in the Seychelles.

The report added:

"The surveillance is overseen by U.S. Special Operations forces but relies heavily on private military contractors and support from African troops.

The surveillance underscores how Special Operations forces, which have played an outsize role in the Obama administration’s national security strategy, are working clandestinely all over the globe, not just in war zones. The lightly equipped commando units train foreign security forces and perform aid missions, but they also include teams dedicated to tracking and killing terrorism suspects."

The Post said that the U.S. Africa Command declined to comment on "specific operational details."

However, the command confirmed that it worked "closely with our African partners ... to conduct missions or operations that support and further our mutual security goals."

The world's at war, WW3, if the Hitler thing was a trial run, this is the full scale implementation, osit. As Einstein said it so eloquently, "I don't know what the third world war will be fought with, but I know what the fourth one will be fought with, sticks and stones."