Horn of Africa leaders met in Somalia on Wednesday for a summit on strategy to combat radical Islamist al-Shabaab, which continues to carry out regular attacks despite a recent offensive by pro-government forces.
Somali President Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud welcomed his counterparts from Djibouti and Kenya, Ismaïl Omar Guelleh and William Ruto, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the capital Mogadishu on Wednesday morning.
The city of Mogadishu has been placed under close surveillance, with traffic restrictions and soldiers on patrol, an AFP journalist noted. Commercial flights were also suspended on Wednesday.
The Somali government indicated in a press release on Tuesday that the aim of this regional summit is to discuss “possibility of jointly overcoming” the fifteen-year-old armed insurgency in Shebab.
“We hope that this cooperation will make it possible to quickly rid the country of the apostates (the Shebab, ed.) who have suffered heavy casualties on the ground in recent weeks,” he added.
The Somali President has announced that he wants to wage an “all-out war” against the Shebab group, which is close to al-Qaeda and has been leading an insurgency against the Somali federal government with the support of the international community since 2007.
Driven out of the country’s capitals in 2011-2012, they remain entrenched in vast rural areas and carry out deadly attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries.
In September, Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud sent the army in support of local militias known as “Macawisley” who were rebelling against al-Shabaab. This offensive, supported by African Union forces in Somalia (Atmis) and American airstrikes, enabled the recapture of vast areas in the center of the country.
Notably, the Somali army announced on January 17 that it had taken the port of Harardhere, controlled by the Shebab since 2010, without a fight in what has been described as a “historic” victory.
But the Shebab continue to carry out bloody attacks, underscoring their ability to strike the heart of Somali cities and military installations.
Two car bombs went off in Mogadishu on October 29, killing 121 and injuring 333 others in the country’s deadliest attack in five years.
The President announced that new contingents of Somali soldiers trained in Eritrea would soon be deployed as part of the anti-Shebab operations.