Somalia: Mogadishu Under Pressure
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 15 August 2017 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 16 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Somalia: Mogadishu Under Pressure, 15 August 2017, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue: 16, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59bb8e084.html [accessed 3 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Mogadishu has seen an increase in attacks in recent months, and the withdrawal of African Union troops from a nearby town has piled on the pressure in Somalia's capital.
One person was killed and several others injured when a car bomb exploded near a hospital on the main Maka al-Mkarramah road on August 4 (Somali Update, August 4). A bombing on the same stretch of road, orchestrated by al-Shabaab less than a week earlier, killed at least five people and injured several others (Garowe Online, July 30). In a separate incident, just hours after the August 4 blast, al-Shabaab gunmen in the capital shot and killed Mohamed Ali Elmi, the provincial governor of the Galgadud region, along with his brother (All Africa, August 8). Elmi was reportedly in Mogadishu visiting relatives.
Residents of Somali capital are on edge — bodyguards for one Somali politician mistakenly shot dead two civilians during a demonstration by motorcycle taxi drivers on August 7 (Radio Dalsan, August 7).
Away from the capital, militants re-took the town of Lego in the Lower Shabelle region on August 4, after Ugandan troops with the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) withdrew from their base there. The area is a prize for al-Shabaab, their fighters having staged a major attack on the base in 2015 (al-Jazeera, June 26, 2015). Situated on a major road about 100 kilometers (km) northwest of the capital, having Lego in the hands of the militants reduces transport options into Mogadishu. Reports indicate that the militants arrived within minutes of the AMISOM convoys moving out (Defence Web, August 4).
Mogadishu is coming under pressure. Victories such as the recent killing in a drone strike of al-Shabaab commander Ali Mohamed Hussein (a.k.a. Ali Jabal), who was responsible for coordinating many attacks on the Somali capital, provide relatively little relief (Mareeg, July 31). AMISOM troops are expected to start drawing down next year, and it is doubtful that Somali forces will be ready to take up the slack. Despite the successes of the U.S.-trained Gashaan counter-terrorism force, the Somali National Army (SNA) lacks cohesion and seems ill-equipped to cope.
The same regional divides that beset the SNA are also a major hurdle for Somalia as it attempts to combat al-Shabaab, though there have been some small successes. In July, the United Nations heralded joint police patrols in Gaalkayo, where the city's administration is divided between Puntland and Galmudung, states that have frequently clashed.
The joint patrols are part of a ceasefire agreement signed on January 1, and their main purpose will be to ensure the continuation of that deal. Perhaps in an indication of how effective such coordination can be, it was a joint operation by Puntland and Galmudug security forces in Gaalkayo last month that resulted in the capture of al-Shabaab commander Abdirsak Hussein Tahlil (All Africa, July 25).
