The leader of Al-Shabaab connected the timing of Saturday’s brutal assault on a Nairobi mall to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks 10 days beforehand.
Ahmed Abdi Mohamed Godane, going by his nom de guerre Mukhtar Abu Zubayr, posted a statement that heavily quoted from the Quran and warned Somalia’s neighbor to prepare for “an abundance of blood.”
“On Saturday 21 September 2013, and which was just 10 days after the anniversary date of the blessed 9/11 operations, a battle which is among the epic battles in the history of Islam began in Nairobi, and in which some of the Mujahideen Martyrom Seekers have written with their blood. Allah has honoured the Mujahideen fighters to write this epic battle – the Badar of Nairobi – with their blood and to change the course of history and avenge the deaths of the weak, oppressed Muslims,” Zubayr said in the online statement.
“The Mujahideen fighters refused to accept the invasion of their Muslim lands and the massacre of innocent Muslims and live with such humiliation. They could not accept the persistent theft of their land’s resources which the Kenyan leaders and Western companies have conspired to plunder.”
Zubayr said the Westgate mall attack, in which at least 72 were killed with the death toll expected to rise, “was to torment the Kenyan leaders who’ve impulsively invaded the Islamic Wilaayat.”
“It was also a retribution against the Western states that supported the Kenyan invasion and are spilling the blood of innocent Muslims in order to pave the way for their mineral companies… The attack has also glaringly illuminated the sheer vulnerability of the different sections of the Kenyan forces, be they police, intelligence or the military, and this was demonstrated by the utter failure that their forces came against when they tried to storm the building that was occupied by the Mujahideen.”
Police were stymied by an Al-Shabaab sniper and a suicide bomber in trying to rescue the hostages. Investigators now also say that the well-planned attack also likely had accomplices who may have worked at the mall.
“The attack is also a slap in the face of on the dwindling economy of the Kenyan government and has also successfully foiled the clandestine schemes of the Zionist Jews in Kenya. It’s a disaster for the Western politicians and their intelligence apparatus who have miserably failed to save their own citizens,” he said. Westgate mall is partially owned by Israelis.
“There is no way that you, the Kenyan public, could possibly endure a prolonged war in Somalia and you cannot also withstand a war of attrition inside your own country. So make your choice today and withdraw all your forces from the Islamic Wilaayaat, otherwise be prepared for an abundance of blood that will be spilt in your country, economic downfall and displacement.”
Today Interpol issued a red notice for British national Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, the “White Widow” of one of the 7/7 tube bombers who became an al-Qaeda paymaster and is believed to be connected to the mall attack.
Lewthwaite is wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011.
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