Hundreds of protesters marched Sept. 9 in Galkayo, a town in Somalia [2]'s northern enclave of Puntland [3], against plans by a southern preacher in the US to hold a mass Koran-burning [4]. The protesters, who marched through the town's main streets, chanted anti-American and anti-Christian slogans. Said march organizer Mohamed Abdullahi: "This is yet another proof of an anti-Islam sentiment in the western world." (The Nation [5], Kenya, Sept. 9)
In other news form Somalia that day, three pirates [6] sustained injuries when two rival pirate outfits exchanged fire at the outskirts of Hobyo town, a pirate haven in the central coastal region of Mudug. The disputed apparently emerged over the handling of a Korean ship taken by the pirates. (The Nation [5], Kenya, Sept. 9) President Obama authorized US Marines to rescue a German-owned ship that had been taken by Somali pirates, freeing it in a three-hours operation. (VOA [7], Sept. 10)
On Sept. 10, just before Eid al-Fitr, the feast at the end of Ramadan, two al-Shabab vehicles carrying suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the entrance gates of Somalia's main airport in Mogadishu, killing five. The first vehicle exploded as they were stopped by peacekeepers at the first checkpoint. Radio Garowe report that African Union stated "Two suicide bombers, dressed in TFG [Transitional Federal Government] combat uniforms," ran from the second vehicle. (Epoch Times [8], Sept. 10)
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