Somali Militant Leader Vows To Carry Out Attacks Outside of Somalia

The commander of the militant Somali "Mujahideen Youths Movement" vowed to carry out attacks outside of Somalia and target Western interests in different parts of the world. "God willing, the global jihad brigades will rise from the land of Somalia to perturb the infidels and destroy their interests all over the world," Mukhtar Abu Zubair said in the 14-minute audio statement released on the group's website.

Abu Zubair also sent his greetings to al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al Zawahri and Abu Yahya al Libi, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and leader of the al Qaeda-associated "Islamic State of Iraq" Abu Omar al Baghdadi.

The Mujahideen Youths Movement is an Islamist insurgency group that defected from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia in 2007. Their core comprised veterans who fought and defeated the secular Mogadishu warlords of the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) at the Second Battle of Mogadishu. Their origins are not clearly known, but former members say Hizbul Shabaab was founded as early as 2004. The group aims to establish the rule of sharia law in Somalia and is thought to have close ties with al-Qaeda.