Following the 14 attack last October in Mogadishu, which resulted in 358 deaths, 228 injured and 56 missing, it was decided, in a meeting held yesterday in Uganda between Somali president Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, that the special bodies and units of Ugandan intelligence will strengthen their operations in Somalia against the Shebab jihadists. The head of the Ugandan contingent, Kayanja Muhanga, will begin to deploy highly specialized units on the battlefield to hunt down and kill Shebab fighters.
According to reports from the Ethiopian authorities, today, Somali president Fermajo, visiting Ethiopia, a country together with Uganda engaged in Somalia as part of the African Union peace mission (Amisom), said it was important to "unite against our enemy, the Shebab, who committed atrocities against innocent people ". "This is a threat that not only affects Somalia, but also our neighbors - the Somali leader added - for this reason I am here to ask for the support and solidarity of our brothers here in Ethiopia".
Amisom has been present in Somalia for more than 10 years and a few months ago had announced the intention to leave Somalia. However, the intent of the announcement had a second end, namely to increase financial contributions from EU countries.
The primary objective of Kenya, present in Amisom, does not seem to be to stabilize Central Somalia, rather than to establish a buffer zone between Somalia and Kenya to prevent potential attacks from Shabab's terrorist organization.
Ethiopia also seems to have the same goals.
Al Shabab is present in rural areas and once Amisom retires troops from Somalia, it will also regain control of the cities. Somali military forces are trained by some Western countries, from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The capabilities of Somali forces are far inferior to those of Amisom and these overturns in the face of the insecurity caused by the Shabab movement and the Somali government forces are a preview of what could happen if Somalia were abandoned to itself.
By Roberta Preziosa