Islamist insurgents scored another major victory against Somalia’s weak transitional government on Wednesday as guerrilla fighters took control of the strategic port city of Merka. With this prize firmly in their hands, the Islamists now stand poised to surge northward and lay siege to the Somali capital. They already control a large—and rapidly growing—swath of south-central Somalia and are recognized by the United Nations as the most powerful force in the region.

These insurgents are part of the hard-line Islamist terrorist group al Shabaab, the armed wing of the Union of Islamic Courts, that is fighting to overthrow the current Somali government and establish an Islamic theocracy. In some areas, this organization already has enough power to impose strict interpretations of Islamic law; in one instance, its affiliates ordered the shooting of two people who demanded to watch the World Cup semifinals. The United States government suspects that these Islamists are also sheltering al Qaeda terrorists responsible for killing Americans.

The Ethiopians have sent troops to prop up the Somali government, but according to Somali sources some of these troops have switched their allegiance to the Islamist side. The terrorists have vowed to fight any Ethiopian troops in Somalia that do not convert to their way of thinking. This means that what is now a Somali civil war could possibly escalate into an interstate war between an Islamist-controlled Somalia and Ethiopia.

The Somali insurgents are able to keep political and military control over such a large area because of the support they receive from Islamic governments and organizations sympathetic to their cause. According to a 2006 United Nations report, Somalia’s Islamists receive arms, training and financing from Hezbollah, Libya, Egypt and Iran. The report details that the Iranians sent three separate consignments of arms, ammunition and medical supplies to the Somali insurgents during the summer of 2006.

Biblical passages such as Daniel 11:40-43 foretell of an end-time clash between a German-led Holy Roman Empire (the “king of the north”) and an Iranian-led Islamic caliphate (the “king of the south”). This passage in particular reveals that the nations of Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia will be allied with Iran when it is overrun by the European empire. Substantial population segments in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia and Somalia are already looking to Iran for leadership as it rises up to establish an Islamic caliphate spanning the Middle East and northern Africa.

For more information on the future of Iran and North Africa, read “Al Qaeda’s New Home” and The King of the South.