Al-Shabaab vows to step up attacks

BAIDOA, Somalia, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The militant al-Shabaab pledged Tuesday to increase its attacks in Somalia unless international peacekeeping forces withdraw from the war-torn country.

Sheik Muqtar Abu Mansor, a senior commander of the Somalia-based al-Qaida-linked organization, told newly trained rebels at a militant-training camp in Baidoa they must be prepared to carry out attacks, such as suicide car bombings and guerrilla offensives against the country's transitional federal government and foreign forces across Somalia, Shabelle Media Network reported.

Al-Shabaab militants, who recently joined forces with al-Qaida elements, previously claimed to have carried out several deadly suicide attacks in Mogadishu after rebels were repelled last year by government and African Union Mission in Somalia troops.