By Ahmed Khalif
I’ve recently seen on social media that some Somalis who seemed to view Al-Shabab as Somalia’s final defensive force against Ethiopia’s aggression. This compelled me to write this piece.
Who is Al-Shabab?
Understanding who Al-Shabab is has been a significant failure among Somalis. If you ask any Somali about Al-Shabab, they would likely tell you that it is a foreign agency or that it works for an invisible foreign entity. But whose agency is really it?
Al-Shabab, an extremist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, has been a destabilizing force in Somalia for years. It’s crucial to recognize the group’s history of violence, extremism, and terror against the Somali people. They have carried out numerous attacks, causing immense suffering and disruption in Somalia. Their actions have often hindered peace and development, making them far from the saviors that some might perceive them to be.
To truly understand Al-Shabab, one must look beyond the surface-level narratives and delve into the complex socio-political dynamics at play. The group’s emergence is rooted in a mix of historical grievances, political marginalization, and regional conflicts. It is essential to acknowledge the internal and external factors that have contributed to their rise and sustainment.
Thus, labeling Al-Shabab merely as a foreign agency or a defender against aggression oversimplifies the issue and obscures the reality of their detrimental impact on Somalia. It is critical for Somalis to confront these truths to work towards a more peaceful and stable future for their country.
In order to understand that we have to critically look into different aspects of Al-Shabab: its genesis; its destructive actions; and most importantly who benefits from its destructive actions, cui bono?
Whose Child is Al-Shabab, Ayrow or Gabre?
Let’s analytically examine Al-Shabab in its cradle and the surrounding circumstances.
Theoretically, Al-Shabab was born out of the United Islamic Courts’ (UIC) defeat by the Ethiopian troops in 2007. It was initially touted as local resistance against the occupying Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu, before it turned out to be Frankenstein monster. It was attributed to the hardline militant group of the defeated UIC led by a jihadist named Ayrow. However, the presence of Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu, where and when Al-Shabab was first heard of, raises suspicion; and that might not be coincidental.
In addition to that, there were reports of Ethiopian soldiers in numbers who were allegedly deserting and were selling their rifles in Mogadishu markets, but nobody knows it for sure where they ended up. That also raises the suspicion one notch up.
The Ethiopian troops that invaded Somalia in 2006 were special troops who have long been trained for that mission; and of course, the Somali language, culture, and tribal affiliation were part of their training so that they can disguise themselves as locals if they have to. It is well known that the commander of those troops, known as Colonel Gabre, spoke Somali like the natives; and the same can be expected from the rank and file of his soldiers.
To Whose Benefit is Al-Shabab (Cui Bono) ?
Al-Shabab has destroyed Somalia in both materially and spiritually, but to whose benefit? Historically all that went wrong with Somalia have their roots in Ethiopia; and I can, with a confidence, add to that all that will go wrong with it will be rooted in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is the archenemy of Somalia; thus the heart of its problems. Even the territorial-based hostility between Kenya and Somalia was brought about by Ethiopia’s insistence of the Somali inhabited NFD be ceded to Kenya rather than joining Somalia. Ethiopia had denied Djibouti to reunite with its Somali brothers. Haile Selassie, Ethiopia’s King at the time, did not left a stone unturned to forestall the reunification of northern and southern provinces of Somalia, but luckily he failed; thus those two provinces eventually formed Republic of Somalia in 1960.
Ethiopia and Somalia fought two wars in very close succession since the latter’s independence in 1960; the latest of which was fought in 1977, Ethiopia has came victorious with the help of both Eastern and Western Alliances. Nonetheless the war of attrition has been continued in other ways.
Since the collapse of Somalia’s central government in 1991 after which the country rapidly descended into the civil war, Ethiopia has been holding Somalia by factions; and its continuous supplies of arms, drugs (qat), and alcohol were the fuel with which the flames of the Somalis civil was burning .
After all these wars of attrition, no ceasefire, or cessation of hostility, has signed yet between those two countries; therefore, Ethiopia and Somalia are technically still at war. Only the enemy of Somalia, the heart of which Ethiopia is, can benefit from the havoc Al-Shabab wrought on it; and that too may not be accidental.
Can Ethiopians pass for Somalis?
Ethiopians, by their physical appearance, are the only people who can pass for Somalis; they physically resemble the Somalis, yet they can imitate them and easily make look themselves like Somalis even more.
As mentioned before, so many Ethiopians speak the Somali language fluently. Many of them were born and raised in the Somali region of Ethiopia where Somali language is the common language; those are also well versed in the Somali culture and tribal affiliations. Haile Selassie was on of them, as he was born and bred in Harar city state, after his father Makonnen conquered in 1887 and became the first Ethiopian governor of it.
Almost all of the recent Ethiopian leaders, Haile Selassie, Mengistu Haile-Mariam, and Meles Zenawi, spoke Somali language fluently. That shows how much the Ethiopians advantageously value the Somali language. The knowledge of their enemy’s language is of a vital importance.
All Ethiopian security wings, and Kenyans for that matter, are proficiently taught Somali language and tribal affiliations as a part of their professional training. Furthermore any Ethiopian who can speak little broken Somali might pass for maay-dialect speaker Somali. No wonder the majority of Al-Shabab members claim belonging to the Maay sector of the Somalis.
Way back in 1996, before even Al-Shabab came into the picture, allegedly Ethiopian troops disguising as local militia, by the name of RRA defeated USC forces in Baidabo and took the city from them without arousing much suspicion in the Somalis. If they did before, why not again?
Why Al-Shabab wrought havoc on Somalis?
There must be a method in the madness: There must be a reason why Al-Shabab kills the able individuals in the society: The former generals in the Somali army, the CID, the prosecutors, former intelligence officials, and anyone who is noteworthy in the society; literally anybody who has eyes to see them and ears to hear them must die.
Al-Shabab, for whomever they work, wants the land but not the people; thus all the Somalis must be out of the country dead or alive. All the people, however, cannot be killed hence some must be driven out; and if mercilessly slaughtered a lot of them will flee with their lives and those who wished to repatriate from abroad will think twice.
Economic destruction is another method Al-Shabab uses so that as many possible Somalis die for hunger and diseases, or flee from the country, and the remainder be preoccupied with their daily lives; those were the methods used by Israeli gangs in Palestine in years of British mandate.
Conclusion:
In 1976, in the period leading to the 1977 war, battalions of Somali National Army, without insignia, were blended into WSLF (Western Somalia Liberation Front) soldiers who were fighting deep inside Ethiopia. It seems that Ethiopia has taken a leaf from the SNA’s play book and sent its own clandestine army, Al-Shabab, now into Somalia.
Al-Shabab bears the hallmarks of Ethiopian army. Their indiscriminately brutal killing of innocent civilians, and their desecration of the holy Masjids — the worshiping places of the religion for which they purportedly fight — suggest that Al-Shabab is sailing with a fake religious flag. Their deeds always belie their verbal claims; they, instead of fighting infidels off their country as they claim, only kill innocent Somali civilians.
Al-Shabab never fought a significant fight with the Ethiopian troops for whom they have been purportedly created to fight off the country. Instead, they massacre the innocent civilians whom they were supposedly defending against the Ethiopians. Why?
According to the locals, Ethiopian troops arm Al-Shabab. Allegedly, whenever Ethiopian troops are moving out of a temporary camp they leave some provisions for Al-Shabab who took over it immediately.
The most recently, on July 15, 2024, two heavy duty trucks from Ethiopia, laden with close to 80 metric tons of military grade weapons, explosives, and ammunition — including hundreds of truck-top-mounted ground support guns (such SZU 23), thousands of PK Machine guns, sniper rifles and pistols with silencers, hand-grenades — were caught in the central region of Somalia; those armaments, worth several hundred-millions of dollars, are believed were destined to Al-Shabab.
It is not deniable that there are some Al-Shabab sympathizers in the Somalis who thought it for the Somalis. As they say there is sucker born in every minute. In Somalia that number, I guess, increases in five folds. There are also some who go along with them for personal gains or for fear for their lives.
After all a man should be judged by his actions, but not by what he claims. Thus, by its deeds Al-Shabab is neither Somalis not for Somalis.
Beware of Al-Shabab’s red and white checkered kaffiyeh, behind it lurks the Devil.
Ahmed Khalif
Email: [email protected]
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