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DUBAI | Tue Nov 6, 2012 5:30pm EST
Nov 6 (Reuters) – Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in a statement on an Islamist website, urged Somalia’s al Shabaab insurgents to fight back against what he called “crusader invaders” after Kenyan forces forced them out of their last urban bastion.
Somalia unveiled a new cabinet this week as it tries in a U.N.-backed initiative to restore central government control after 20 years of armed anarchy that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Backed by African Union (AU) peacekeepers, government forces have pushed the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents out of the main urban areas they took over in their five-year-old revolt, spurring many Somalis to return to rebuild their country. But the capital Mogadishu remains vulnerable to militant attacks.
Zawahri singled out Kenyan forces that in September drove al Shabaab out of its last stronghold, the port of Kismayu, telling the militants not be worried by the large number of what he said was U.S.-backed African troops in Somalia.