Terrorist Activities Kenya: European victims as protracted battle continues at mall and on Twitter - Government reports confusing - by Sudarsan Raghavan

Fighting raged at an upscale mall in Kenya’s capital for a fourth day Tuesday, with Kenyan security forces suffering casualties as they attempted to quell Islamist militants who had seized the shopping center and taken hostages.

Confusion reigned as Kenyan officials asserted they had control over the Westgate Premier Shopping Mall, while the militants — who reportedly come from multiple countries, including the United States, but whose identities remain murky — insisted they had the upper hand.

Sporadic gunfire and smoke appeared to counter statements by Kenyan officials that the bloody standoff was nearing an end. As the shooting continued, a parallel tussle unfolded on Twitter between the militants and the government, as each side tried to counter the other’s version of events.

The Somali-based, al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militia tweeted that it was still holding hostages, who were “looking quite disconcerted but nevertheless, alive.” Another Shabab tweet said: “Mujahideen are still holding their ground #westgate.”

But Kenyan officials offered a different account, saying they believe all hostages had been released. “We’re very near the end,” Kenya’s Interior Ministry posted on Twitter at noon.

Note EU-Digest:  It is always amazing how al-Quada, al-Shabad or whatever names these "extremists" call themselves, can believe that their vicious and cruel acts on innocent civilians would ever gain them any respect for "their cause". Unfortunately, therefore, maybe one should classify them as "mentally deranged" individuals and treat them as such?

Read more: Militants, Kenyan security forces locked in protracted battle at mall and on Twitter - The Washington Post

Mali: Malians celebrate, French-led forces clear Timbuktu

Residents of Mali's northern town of Gao, captured from sharia-observing Islamist rebels by French and Malian troops, danced in the streets to drums and music on Sunday as the French-led offensive also drove the rebels from Timbuktu.

The weekend gains made at Gao and Timbuktu by the French and Malian troops capped a two-week whirlwind intervention by France in its former Sahel colony, which has driven al Qaeda-allied militant fightinto the desert and mountains.

In Gao, the largest town in the north where the Islamist insurgents had banned music and smoking, cut off the hands of thieves and ordered women to wear veils, thousands cheered the liberating troops with shouts of "Mali, Mali, France, France".

French special forces backed by Rafale fighter jets and Tiger helicopters had helped capture the town early on Saturday.

The Rafale fighters in Mali as were the Eurofighters during the Libya conflict are performing extremely well and India has said it is planning to buy 189 Rafale fighter jets.

Read more: Malians celebrate, French-led forces clear Timbuktu | Reuters

Letters from Osama bin Laden show he was troubled by crumbling Muslim trust

Letters from Osama bin Laden's last hideaway, released by U.S. officials intent on discrediting his terror organization, portray a network weak, inept and under siege — and its leader seemingly near wit's end about the passing of his global jihad's glory days.

The documents, published online Thursday, are a small sample of those seized during the U.S. raid on bin Laden's Pakistan compound in which he was killed a year ago. By no accident, they show al-Qaeda at its worst. The raid has become the signature national security moment of U.S. President Barack Obama's presidency and one he is eager to emphasize in his re-election campaign.

Those ends are served in the 17 documents chosen by U.S. officials for the world to see — not to mention American voters. The Obama administration has refused to release a fuller record of its bin Laden collection, making it difficult to glean any larger truths about the state of the terrorist organization.

The documents, which date from September 2006 to April 2011, were declassified by U.S. intelligence officials and posted by scholars at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As part of the declassification process, intelligence officials would have withheld any documents that they felt could inflame anti-American sentiment — another reason the documents offer a largely sanitized version.

Read more: Osama bin Laden troubled by crumbling Muslim trust - World - CBC News