Somali Islamic insurgent group says it will seize arms sent to Somali government by the US

Somali insurgents to seize US arms supply

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A spokesman for radical Islamic insurgents says his group will seize weapons the U.S. has supplied to Somalia’s embattled government.

Sheik Hassan Ya’qub of al-Shabab says the weapons shipments will escalate violence in war-wracked country. He was speaking late Sunday in reaction to U.S. officials’ statements last week that the Obama administration was supplying arms and providing military training to the shaky government.

The U.S. officials say the goal is to stem Islamic insurgent advances in the Horn of Africa region.

Islamic insurgents have been trying to topple the government for more than two years. Somalia has not had an effective central government for 18 years.