Al-Zawahiri urging militants to fight in Somalia

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Al-Zawahiri urging militants to fight in Somalia

Images

 

Ayman al-Zawahri in a video grab taken from a broadcast by Arab television. (Getty Images/file)

 

Print Story Published: 1:26 pm Share Updated: 1:31 pm

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has released a new video in which he encourages Somali militants to fight on despite the challenges.

 

In the video, reported Friday by the Site Intelligence Group which monitors militant activities, al-Zawahiri urges al-Shabab militants not to be deterred by U.S. drone attacks.

 

It is al-Zawahiri's second video address to al-Shabab, which formally joined al-Qaida in February.

 

Al-Shabab has increasingly come under pressure in recent times from regional armies and government forces who are pushing it from three sides inside Somalia.

 

Somalia's prime minister said last month that al-Shabab militants were fleeing up north, into the semiautonomous region of Puntland.

 

Somalia has lacked a stable government since 1991.