Somali insurgency threatens oil exploration in northern Somalia, announces new members

NAIROBI, Kenya — The al-Qaida-linked Somali insurgency says all oil exploration contracts in northern Somalia are void, and announced a new group in the region had joined its forces.

The announcement by al-Shabab comes weeks after a consortium of oil companies announced they were drilling a well in the semiautonomous northern region of Puntland.

Al-Shabab said in a messages posted to websites this week and on its twitter feed late Tuesday that “Somali oil carries death” and that a group in the northern region had joined their forces.

The messages come as al-Shabab is being squeezed on three sides in southern Somalia. Kenyan and Ethiopian troops have both crossed into Somalia, and an African Union force has mostly taken control of the capital.

The Associated Press