With new head, Somali militants promise enemies ‘great distress’

Somali militant group al Shabaab is promising “great distress” to its enemies, having named a new leader after its head, Ahmed Godane, was killed in a U.S. air strike this week. In a statement, al Shabaab reaffirmed its affiliation to al Qaeda, and named its new leader as Sheikh Ahmad Umar Abu Ubaidah, warning its enemies to “expect only that which will cause you great distress”. Little is known of al Shabaab’s new leader, but a local elder who asked not be named said he had joined al Shabaab in 2006 and, like Godane, hailed from the Dir clan. Godane himself was named head of al Shabaab in 2008, less than a week after his predecessor Aden Hashi Ayro was killed in a similar U.S. raid.

Avenging the death of our scholars and leaders is a binding obligation on our shoulders that we will never relinquish nor forget no matter how long it takes.

Al Shabaab, in a statement

U.S. forces struck Godane’s encampment in south-central Somalia with Hellfire missiles and laser-guided munitions on Monday, but the Pentagon did not confirm his death until Friday. Western governments and neighboring countries want to neutralize a group that they say has exploited Somalia’s chaos to attract jihadists and train them to fight. Godane had dramatically raised the group’s profile, carrying out bombings and suicide attacks in Somalia and elsewhere in the region, including last September’s attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in which 67 people died. The militants have also staged guerrilla attacks in parts of the capital, as well as in neighboring Kenya and Uganda.

His (Godane) death is a stark reminder that those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta

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