Christians pray under gunfire while worshipping in Somalia

Here we go again as more people have been killed in Somalia as Christians were celebrating Pentacost. The battle for Somalia between the government, insurgent group al-Shabab, advanced on the presidential palace overnight, but were stopped by government troops and African Union peacekeepers, according to BosNewsLife. How much longer will the fragile, barely functiong government hold out against repeated attacks from Islamic terror groups like al-shabab? Will it really matter as both sides are intolerant of Christians. The current president of Soamlia, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed is not fond of Christians and favors the extremely oppressive shariah law. Anything but Islam and shariah law are considered barbaric and unacceptable to all islamic groups in Somlia. I look for much more bloodshed and more deaths of Christians living in hell, I mean Soamlia.

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Somalia Christians observe Pentecost amid gunfire, 14 deaths

Undergroundsite.com: Somalia’s minority Christians still observed Pentecost, despite a spray of gunfire between pro-government troops and Muslim militants causing 14 deaths.

The engagement occurred as the insurgent group al-Shabab advanced on the presidential palace overnight, but were stopped by government troops and African Union peacekeepers, according to BosNewsLife.

Somalia’s frail government faces unrest from two insurgent groups, al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam. Although the two latter groups agree that they want a more strict Islamic state, they are also fighting each other, aside from both groups fighting the government.

As of now, much of central and southern Somalia and large parts of Mogadishu are under the control of insurgents. The Sharif government controls small areas around the airport, seaport and presidential palace, with the help of African Union troops, BosNewsLife reported.

The Sharif government also struggles with internal conflict. Last week President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed tried to fire the prime minister, but backed down this week, stating that he recognized the method of the firing was unconstitutional, according to BosNewsLife.

Both the Sharif government and the two warring insurgent factions would like to obliterate the Christians. While the president proclaims himself a moderate, he embraces a sharia, or Islamic law, that mandates the death penalty for those who leave Islam, BosNewsLife reported.

On the other hand, both Al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam would like to rid Somalia of Christianity, and all non-Islamic culture, which they describe as barbaric. It is believed that there are 1,000 Christians in Somalia, BosNewsLife said.

Al-Shabab recently shot and killed Christian leader Yusuf Ali Nur, 57 whom they suspected of being a Christian. Nur was killed in Xarardheere, a small town 37 miles from the regional capital Jowhar. Nur left behind a wife and three children, aged 11, 9 and 7, according to BosNewsLife.

Al-Shabab had also, before then, shot and killed Christian Mu’awiye Hilowle Ali in front of his house in the town of Afgoye, some 15 miles west of the capital Mogadishu. Ali is survived by a wife and ten children, BosNewsLife said.

Over a dozen Christians are known to have been killed by militants within a year, according to Christian advocacy groups. This troubled country has also seen tens of thousands of people killed in war, and over a million displaced in what aid groups call the most dire humanitarian situation in the world, BosNewsLife reported.

The president has met with the international community at a United Nations backed conference in Istanbul, Turkey, to shore up worldwide support for his fragile government, according to BosNewsLife.

On Saturday, May 22, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reportedly said that international support for the government is “the only way” to stabilize Somalia, which has not had a stable central government in nearly 20 years, BosNewsLife reported.

Somali pirates have earned well deserved notoriety for regularly attacking international ships, kidnapping their seamen and demanding ransom.

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Islamic group in Kenya targets movies, and soccer

There does not seem to be much room in Islam or at least with the radical Islamists, for any sort of fun or entertainment. Kenya has a growing problem with radical Islam inside the country. This is taking place in the northern part of Kenya that shares it's border with Somalia. This part of Soamlia is mostly controlled by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, a rebel militia which enforces a harsh version of sharia law that includes banning school bells and music on radios. The Muslims in Kenya are denying any links to the Islamic radicals in Somalia.


"If we come to a place where movies or watching football goes on we simply take everything and destroy the disc and repay the owners. We have now succeeded in 10 places," Sheikh Daud Sheikh Mahmud, head of the group, told Reuters.


"We will not stop until we have destroyed totally all the cinemas showing movies and football in this area," he said by phone from Mandera.


This will not be the last we hear from Islamic radicals in Kenya, or Africa. That is one thing we can count on.

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Kenyan Islamic group cracks down on soccer, films
By Sahra Abdi
Reuters


NAIROBI (Reuters) - A group of Islamic clerics in northeastern Kenya said on Monday it was cracking down on public broadcasts of soccer and films because it feared young Kenyan Muslims were shunning Islamic traditions.

The group based in the town of Mandera on the border with Somalia said it had also put pressure on local administrators to back their television bans in a soccer-mad nation eagerly awaiting the World Cup in South Africa.

"If we come to a place where movies or watching football goes on we simply take everything and destroy the disc and repay the owners. We have now succeeded in 10 places," Sheikh Daud Sheikh Mahmud, head of the group, told Reuters.

"We will not stop until we have destroyed totally all the cinemas showing movies and football in this area," he said by phone from Mandera.

Kenya said such bans could never be enforced legally.

"This is a secular country so our people have the freedom to do whatever they want within the law, which includes watching football," government spokesman Alfred Mutua told Reuters.

"On our side of the border is a nation of law and order where there is no legal restriction on showing football."

The region of Somalia that borders Kenya is largely controlled by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group, a rebel militia which enforces a harsh version of sharia law that includes banning school bells and music on radios.

The Kenyan group denied any link to al Shabaab.

"MISLEADING PLACES"

Sheikh Daud Sheikh Mahmud said they were worried youths in the predominantly Muslim region were being distracted by television broadcasts in bars and cafes.

"We realized that our children were spending the whole night in those misleading places ... this is something against our Islamic religion and we are the leaders of the people," he said.

Many Kenyan Muslim leaders support a more moderate interpretation of Islam, although one said restrictions on television were possible if young Muslims were indeed spending too much time transfixed by light entertainment.

"Our religion isn't against football as it is also healthy exercise," Sheikh Nor Barud Gurhan, a Nairobi-based Muslim scholar, told Reuters.

"We could ban it if the people are busy only watching and playing football without doing the obligatory actions of Islam like praying," he said.

The northern Kenyan group pledged to step up its anti-soccer drive in Kenya as Africa waits to hosts its first World Cup in June, a point of great pride for many Kenyans.

(Writing by Jeremy Clarke; Editing by David Clarke)