U.S. STEPS UP CLANDESTINE ACTIVITIES IN SOMALIA

The crash of an unmanned American spy drone in the Somali port of Kismayu during the final weekend in September points up the increased U.S. covert activities in that country of late. Kismayu is known to be an al Shabaab stronghold and the native rebel group connected to al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for downing the drone close to the airport, its radio station asserting that the plane came under fire by its members. The official American reaction to the incident has not been immediately forthcoming. Local residents reported a greater prevalence of flyovers relative to Kismayu in the last few weeks. American authorities have maintained continuous surveillance of the nation in response to a list of al Qaeda operatives thought to be found there. A Washington Post article last month on the American espionage campaign in the region disclosed the development of a network of clandestine bases located in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula for the purpose of an all-out offensive against al Qaeda allies in Somalia and Yemen. According to the account, drones were dispatched from the country of Djibouti in Africa to fly over the aforementioned targets. Furthermore, secret American diplomatic communiqués revealed unmanned aircraft operations across Somalia originating in the Seychelles.

On the ground, claims have surfaced of a pronounced CIA presence at the Mogadishu airport. The agency is alleged to carry out its mission against Islamist forces through the capture of supposed jihadists in East Africa, who are then transported to an underground interrogation compound in Mogadishu. Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, who concentrates on security matters, followed up a recent trip to Somalia with an article for The Nation, in which he described a heavily protected CIA complex at the airport marked by guard towers and agency aircraft. He made reference to a “secret prison” placed below the main office of the Somali National Security Agency, which is a part of the inept Western supported Transitional Federal Government that, in turn, owes its continued grip on power primarily to an African Union peacekeeping unit designated AMISOM and numbering 9,000. The hidden prison holds purported al Shabaab insurgents, as well as the inmates believed to be linked to al Qaeda who were caught in Kenya, Uganda, and other East African nations, and brought to Mogadishu. Attributed also to the CIA is the employment of mercenaries to instruct Somali killing squads to strike at al Shabaab.