Al Qaeda branch: Sandy punishment for ‘crimes against Islam’

Al Qaeda's cell in Somalia on Wednesday said Hurricane Sandy was Allah's punishment for America's “disbelief” and “crimes against Islam.”

In a series of tweets Wednesday afternoon, al Shabaab urged people in the United States to convert to Islam "before it's too late." 

“Allah imposes disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes & volcanic eruptions so as to punish the Kuffar who have rejected the call of Islam,” al Shabaab said in its first tweet.

The group went on: “The path of destruction carved by hurricane Sandy in the US is just a tiny fragment of the punishment warranted by their heinous atrocities. Destroying everything by the command of Allah, these punishing winds serve as a just recompense for their disbelief and crimes against Islam. It is the answer to the prayers of the oppressed Muslims accross (sic) the globe and a response to the silent whispers of the Muslim prisoners. So we call upon the Kuffar [infidels] in the US to reject their falsehood before it's too late, embrace Islam and enter to the fold of the faithful.”

Al Shabaab took over much of southern Somalia between 2009 and 2010 but has been pushed out of the capital, Mogadishu, and other cities over the past year by a U.S.-backed African Union force.

“That you embrace Islam is dearer to us than having to slaughter you for your crimes and invoking Allah to punish you with such calamities,” the group said in another tweet.

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