Last week, in the latest spasm of political turmoil in war-torn Somalia,
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed suspended Prime Minister Mohamed.........


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Somali Political Turmoil Widens Door For Al-Shabaab, Weakens Fight Against
Terrorism

 

(New York, N.Y.) — Last week, in the latest spasm of political turmoil in
war-torn Somalia, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamedsuspended
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Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble over corruption accusations. Mohamed
alleged that the ousted prime minister had beenlooting
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public land belonging to the Somali National Army (SNA) and interfering with a
corruption investigation. In response, Roble released his own statement
accusing Mohamed of “a deliberate attempt to overthrow the government, the
constitution and the laws of the land.”

 

U.S. officials have warned Somalia’s political instability will interfere with
the work of the Somali security forces fighting against U.S.-designated
terrorist organization al-Shabaab, enabling the al-Qaeda affiliate’s violent
activities to gain momentum. In December, political feuds interfered with the
fight against extremists when the U.S.-trained Puntland Security Force (PSF)
abandoned
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its mission in protest of a new commander imposed by the Puntland government,
resulting in a standoff with Puntland military forces. Al-Shabaab and local
militants pledged to ISIS have since taken advantage of the lack of security,
increasing attacks on both government and civilian targets.

 

With international help, Somalia has succeeded in restoring some rule of law
in the past decade. In January 2007, the U.N. Security Council established the
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), an African Union peacekeeping
mission. In 2012, Somalia held its first presidential election in 45 years,
resulting in the creation of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS).

 

AMISOM and the FGS have had some success in ousting al-Shabaab from the
country’s major cities, and the FGS now maintains control of the Somali
capital, Mogadishu. However, al-Shabaab still maintains an operational
capability in the city and seek refuge in rural areas and along the
Kenya-Ethiopia border. In addition to al-Shabaab, other clan militias and
Islamic militant groups continue to dominate in large areas in the rest of the
country. These groups continue to clash with each other as well as with
government forces.

 

Accordingly, the 2021 presidential and parliamentary elections—initially
scheduled for February 8 but delayed indefinitely due to disagreements on how
to conduct the voting—have encouraged insurgent groups to continue carrying out
attacks. According to security analysts, the power vacuum resulting from the
divisions between political leaders has provided a boost to al-Shabaab
militants.

 

To read Counter Extremism Project (CEP)’s resource Somalia, please click here
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To read CEP’s resource Al-Shabaab, please click here
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