Somalia declares "total war" on jihadist group Al Shabaab
First statements by the Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, following the attack by the terrorist group Al Shabaab on the Hayat Hotel, which left 21 dead and 117 wounded, according to the Somali Ministry of Health, the deadliest attack since the president took office last June. In his first public speech, Hassan Sheikh declared an "all-out war" against Al Shabaab, which he accuses of targeting innocent civilians against the rules and regulations of society.
"Al Shabaab is like a deadly snake in your clothes, there is no solution but to kill it before it kills you," the president announced in his speech in Villa Somalia, where he also stressed that he will do everything possible to weaken the terrorists who already control much of the rural areas in central and southern Somalia.
Shacabka Soomaaliyeedoow, waan ogahay inaad ku daasheen tacsi & baroordiiqda joogtada ah —sidaasi awgeed, waxan idinka codsanayaa inaad u diyaargarawdaan dagaal intii karaankeena ah aan waxba lala harayn oo lala galo arxan-laawayaasha liddiga ku ah nabaddeenna & dowladnimadeenna. pic.twitter.com/7mcFniZMIc
— Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (@HassanSMohamud) August 23, 2022
The attack took place last Friday at the Hayat Hotel in the capital Mogadishu. After shooting their way into the premises and setting off charges in the vicinity, the terrorists barricaded themselves for more than 24 hours until the Somali authorities managed to put an end to it and rescue the hostages.
The UN Secretary-General's deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, "strongly" condemned the terrorist attack and expressed condolences to the families of the victims. "Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security," the statement said, along with praise for the swift response of Somali security forces, including first responders.
This, however, was not the only Al Shabaab attack in the country during Hassan Sheikh's presidency. In speeches during his first term in office between 2012 and 2016, Hassan Sheikh consistently called for the fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa, although he did not rule out negotiations in the future.
For the time being, the fight against Al Shabaab continues with the so-called African Union Transitional Mission (ATMIS) between the Somali government and the African Union, launched last February. ATMIS replaces the previous mission, AMISON, after 15 years of anti-terrorist operations. This new mission came precisely with the intention of redoubling efforts in the fight against jihadism, the biggest fight Somalia is currently facing.
Al Shabaab is the al-Qaeda affiliate in the Horn of Africa that seeks to establish an ultraconservative regime in Somalia. Although its troops were driven out of the capital in 2011 by African Union (AU) forces, the jihadist group still has a strong presence in rural areas and controls large swathes of the country.
Ethiopia and Kenya, the other countries in the region, have also been the target of several attacks in the last decade. In Abyssinia, Al Shabaab has been taking advantage of the instability created since 2020, when the civil war between the TPLF and the Ethiopian federal government began, by carrying out attacks in the border area between the two countries. The government in Addis Ababa has put the number of suspected members of the Somali terrorist group at more than 200 attacks. Meanwhile, in August, Kenya recorded an alleged Al Shabaab attack that left five Kenyan policemen dead in the north-east of the country.
