Somali jihad leader defends attacks on African Union troops: "The Islamic religion permits such kinds of attacks if they are against known enemies and

Jihad Watch

But remember, to believe this conflict has anything to do with Islamic teachings on jihadist warfare or the ideology that drives it would just be downright Islamophobic. "Radical Somali leader defends peacekeepers' killings," from CNN, September 20:

But remember, to believe this conflict has anything to do with Islamic teachings on jihadist warfare or the ideology that drives it would just be downright Islamophobic. "Radical Somali leader defends peacekeepers' killings," from CNN, September 20:

(CNN) -- A radical Islamist leader in Somalia said Sunday that a suicide attack that killed 21 African Union peacekeepers was the right thing to do.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said Thursday's attack was meant to defend Islam.

"The Islamic religion permits such kinds of attacks if they are against known enemies and in the defense of the religion, but there are people who distort that explanation," Aweys said, addressing hundreds of people during a religious sermon at Elashabiyaha, a suburb of Mogadishu.

He beat the apologists to the punch on that one.

Suicide bombers, disguised in two U.N.-marked vehicles, rammed through the security gate of the mission's headquarters, which is attached to Mogadishu's airport.

They detonated explosives just as Somalia's transitional government and mission representatives concluded a high-level meeting inside the compound, said Nicolas Bwakira, the African Union's special representative for Somalia.

The attack killed four Somali civilians and 17 Ugandan and Burundian soldiers, including the mission's second-in-command, Burundian Maj. Gen. Juvenal Niyonguruza, he said.

The force commander, Ugandan Maj. Gen. Nathan Mugisha, was among the 40 wounded. He assumed command of the African Union Mission in Somalia -- known as AMISOM -- last month.

Al-Shabaab, the Islamist militia with ties to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the African Union.

The strike happened days after U.S. special forces targeted and killed a senior al Qaeda operative in southern Somalia.

Analysts hailed the death of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan as a major blow to al Qaeda's efforts to work with Al-Shabaab to try to gain a foothold in the lawless country.

Aweys condemned the killing of Nebhan.

"The U.S. government is responsible for all problems on the Muslin [sic] nation particularly on the Somalis," he said....

And the alleged persecution of Muslin nations is a vast Nylon-ist conspiracy (28% Spandex).