20 Killed in Somali Bombing

Somali-born brothers overheard discussing methods and targets

(NEWSER) - Danish intelligence officials say they've arrested two brothers who were plotting an unspecified terrorist attack. The brothers, ages 18 and 23, were born in Somalia, but have spent most of their lives in Denmark and are Danish citizens. Authorities say they were overheard discussing methods, targets, and types of weaponry for an attack. One allegedly attended an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia, the AP reports. More»

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»