20 Killed in Somali Bombing

Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, tried to sabotage tree-lighting ceremony

(USER SUBMITTED) - An Oregon man was arrested last night and charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction after trying to detonate a car bomb at a tree-lighting ceremony. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, a US citizen born in Somalia, drove a van to Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland and attempted to detonate a dummy explosive charge that had been rigged by the FBI, reports the Oregonian . "This defendant's chilling determination is a stark reminder that there are people—even here in Oregon—who are determined to kill Americans," said a state US attorney. More»

Payne calls for world to support Somalia's new leaders

(NEWSER) - A New Jersey congressman targeted by Somali militants didn't even know his plane had been attacked until it landed safely in Kenya, he tells the Newark Star-Ledger. Rep. Donald Payne, who escaped injury from the mortar barrage, said he doesn't believe the assault should deter other politicians from meeting Somalia's new government. "I believe that a stable Somalia is really a key to a stable Africa," Payne told CNN. More»

(NEWSER) - Captain Richard Phillips has been rescued, and that’s good news. “But it remains a scandal that Somali pirates continue to routinely defeat the world’s naval powers,” writes Fred Iklé in the Washington Post. The pirates are surely funneling money to terrorists, Iklé surmises, and our failure to stop that trade is an “ongoing demonstration of cowardice.” More»

Counterterrorism agencies fear emergence of homegrown terror cells

(NEWSER) - US counter-terrorism agencies are warning of a mounting terror threat as Somali extremists linked to al-Qaeda recruit Americans, the Washington Post reports. Agencies are probing the disappearance of a number of young Somali-Americans now believed to be in Somalia, and cite the case of Shirwa Ahmed, who lived in Minneapolis before becoming a suicide bomber in Somalia last October, as cause for concern. More»

At least one killed: report

(NEWSER) - At least two Doctors Without Borders workers were shot at the aid group's office in the Somali capital today, and at least one person was killed. An employee of the group lost his job yesterday, and came back today to carry out the attack, according to another employee. The AP reports that two aid workers were hit and one was killed, but details are sketchy and a security official says three workers were shot. More»