Al-Shabaab’s ‘madness will soon be history’: President Mohamud
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud giving remarks in Djibouti at the Annual Forum for Ideas organised by Heritage Institute for Policy Studies
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has reiterated his government’s commitment to ‘disable and dismantle’ Al-Shabaab terrorist group.
In a column to the Kenya-based news website The Nation on Saturday, Mohamud said his government is “taking the war to al-Shabaab in every locality they once felt comfortable operating from within our country.”
“Defeating al-Shabaab and all other terrorist organisations is the only solution to long-term peace, security and progress and prosperity for Somalia, the wider region, and the world” the Somali leader wrote.
However, he noted that the policies of containment and degrading long employed in the fight against terrorist group need to be reviewed.
“Both policies were useful for the immediate short-term objectives at the time, but they can never lead to a comprehensive defeat of terrorism anywhere alone,” he continued.
Therefore, Somalia has “embarked on a new policy direction in which we will connect the security efforts with a new assault on al-Shabaab’s illicit financing and false ideology,” Mohamud noted.
“This holistic approach is already starting to disable and dismantle the terror group’s operations and giving faith to our people that their misery and madness will soon be history,” he added.
The group is now “finally on the back foot and seeking to escape from our forces”, he wrote.
Mohamud called for a “renewed joint international partnership and a firm commitment to rooting them [Al-Shabaab] out of our societies”.
He also warned against referring to the group as Muslims or Sunnis, instead describing the group as a “criminal terrorist group” with fighters from across the world and global sympathisers.
He accused the group of distorting the view of Islam because “the beautiful religion of Islam would never allow the killing, subjugation and extortion of innocent people even in times of war.”
Following his election in May last year, Mohamud announced an “all-out war” against Al-Shabaab militants which saw the Somali army leading offensives against Al-Shabaab that have led to the liberation of vast territories from the group in south and central Somalia.
