Dozens killed in heavy Somali fighting; Times reports on America's first suicide bomber

Dozens of people were killed in heavy fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu over the weekend, according to Reuters news reports.

Somali government forces have been fighting against Islamic insurgents in the war-torn country. The government accuses foreign fighters of leading the insurgency.

The news comes on the same weekend when the New York Times reported that some Americans of Somali heritage have returned to their home country to fight in the war against the government and Ethiopian forces.

The Times reports that Mohamoud Hassan, a 23-year-old engineering major, dropped out of college in the U.S. along with two classmates and left for Somalia to join the Shabaab, described as "a militant Islamist group aligned with Al Qaeda that is fighting to overthrow the fragile Somali government."

"The students are among more than 20 young Americans who are the focus of what may be the most significant domestic terrorism investigation since Sept. 11," the Times reported. "One of the men, Shirwa Ahmed, blew himself up in Somalia in October, becoming the first known American suicide bomber."

Meanwhile, the Voice of America reported that Al-Shabab militants in the south-central Somali town of Baidoa had beheaded seven people in what is believed to the largest mass execution carried out in Somalia since 2006.

Source: TheDailyVoice.com