An expert on the affairs of the Horn of Africa region, Prof Abdiwahab Sheikh Abdisamad, has warned that Islamist insurgency Al-Shabaab has become more lethal saying defeating it might become a herculean task.
The director of the Horn of Africa Center for Security Studies said failure by successive Somali governments to deal with Al-Shabaab has seen the group become more dangerous over the years noting it has generated billions of US dollars from its several sources of income, including other terrorist groups; piracy; kidnapping; and extortion in a number of neighbouring countries.
“It is mind blowing how Al-Shabab terror group has grown exponentially from a ragtag underweight boy group into such an expansive outfit, due to blinding incompetence of the successive Somali governments, they keep getting more & more military hardware into their hands.”
“Their financial networks and ill gains from their complex extortion rings are finding a foothold in the east Africa & horn of Africa’s growing economies market. It would be folly to ignore this connection. We have now have Al-Shabab footprint in training militants in Mozambique, they employ quirky propaganda showcasing Kenyans, Ethiopians, Tanzanians & Burundians in their ranks,” he posted on X on Thursday.
Prof Abdiwahab said to counter this growing threat, the regional leadership must cooperate to curb Al-Al-Shabaab in their backyard, share intelligence and hold into account their backers from the West.
“The current endless state of belligerence benefits the west as it competes for our natural resources, if they don’t want an equal footing partnership it is only right we pivot to the East; preferably Russia and China to get our peace & prosperity that we so crave,” the expert stated.
by: MartinMurigi