Al-Shabaab accuse NATO of leading war against extremists
The spokesman for radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Raghe alias Sheikh Ali Dhere, stated on Thursday that a coalition of forces, backed by Nato, is involved in a military campaign against the militants.
Sheikh Dhere read a long list of governments and organisations taking part in the latest campaign against the fanatical Islamists, mentioning Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi, and Djibouti as being allies of the Transitional Federal Government.
He added that Nato is supporting “the hostile operation”.
“Nato, which is a military pact and made of the strongest nations on earth has joined the war,” announced the Al-Shabaab spokesman.
He added that the coalition was meant to defeat a small fraction of the Somali society.
“Al-Shabaab is made of less than 5 per cent of the Somali society,” stated Sheikh Ali Dhere.
Speaking through al-Andalus, a broadcaster run by the militant group, he wondered why all those forces were united to fight militants from a small proportion of the Somali society.
“We urge the Muslim Somali people to help us defeat this invasion from ‘non-Muslims,” he said.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali who was attending a conference on Somalia in Istanbul, Turkey, welcomed the capture of Afmadow town on Thursday by Kenyan defence forces.
“The seizure of Afmadow town is precursor to the capture of Kismayu,” remarked PM Ali.
And UN chief Ban Ki-moon called yesterday for urgent international aid for Somalia to head off the risk of warlords exploiting a power vacuum after the scheduled change of power in August.
“We urgently need assistance to avoid a power vacuum that warlords might exploit,” Ban told the Istanbul conference. “I urge donors to contribute to this critical effort. In the face of terrorism, piracy and drought, Somalia needs solidarity,” he added.
