In the most appalling unethical diplomatic move, recently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Government of Somalia released a hoax presser in which it blamed Ethiopia for the resurgence of Al-Shabab in Somalia with no reasonable sense of the truth. The whole world knows and has witnessed the sacrifices that Ethiopia has paid in good faith and with serious commitment on the reestablishment of the Republic of Somalia through a combination of diplomatic support, capacity building, and full peace keeping mission for 17 years under AMISOM and ATMIS.
At the pretext of the Agreement Ethiopia inked with Somaliland based on her legal right for for access to port under lease 50 for years, Somalia unleased a destabilization program in the Horn of Africa by forming an alliance of containment on the country in cooperation with Egypt and Eretria. Despite the open fact that Ethiopian defense forces have paid in blood and flesh, Somalia is officially requesting the withdrawal of Ethiopian peace keeping forces and their replacement by Egyptian troops which were nowhere in Somalia for the last two decades. While Somalia has allowed the regrouping of the terrorist forces in the country including ISIS, There is no ground in which the leadership of the country could engage in blame shifting. Who is Al-Shabab and how was it formed?
Al- Shabab is an offshoot of the Islamic Courts which declared Jihad on Ethiopia and which was ousted from power in 2011. Both IC and Al-Shabab have been operating in Somalia for the last 16 years with the objective of forming Islamic Greater Somalia by incorporating parts of the Ogaden area of Ethiopia, North Frontier District of Kenya and Djibouti picking up the old wish of the defunct government of the late President Ziad Bare of Somalia. It is interesting to note that the same propaganda is being trumpeted by the President of Somalia against Ethiopia and Kenya today.
Over the last several Years, Al-Shabab continued to launch attacks on Kenya and AMISOM forces in peace keeping mission in Somalia. A couple of years back Al-Shabab started to operate in Somalia in full cooperation with Al- Qaida and has been conducting sporadic operations against the Somalia Federal Government.
The Ethiopian, Security and Joint Intelligence Force over the years reported that it has swatted a terrorist action plan that was organized to conduct terror attacks in Addis Ababa. The task forced disclosed that 31 members of Al-Shabab and ISIS were successfully rounded up before they were able to conduct the terrorist attack in the city.
On the evening of July 21, 2022, a contingent of terrorist Al-Shabab militants launched a planned attack on the Ethio- Somali border in Afder Zone of Ethiopia Somali Region. The group reportedly launched an attack on the Somali Special Police force stationed in three villages in Bokol area in the villages of Washaaqom, Aatoo and Yeed.
According to a press release from Somali State Communication Bureau, as the result of the defensive action taken by the Somali State Special Force to repulse the attack resulted in the death of more than 100 Al-Shabab fighters. The report indicated that Al-Shabab’s forces were encircled at Hul Hul district and all the militants in the area were completely destroyed. The regional Special Forces destroyed 13 vehicles used by the terrorist organization and logistics supplies from the terrorists were also confiscated.
This was the first cross border attack ever to be conducted on Ethiopian territory by Al-Shabab. Why did Al-Shabab dared to conduct this attack? Although the organization has not disclosed any information except for scanty information of its attack 100 kms. Into Ethiopian border, there are several speculations and estimates that are made by politicians familiar with the attacks of the terrorist group. Some say it is retaliation for the death of a military leader killed by Somali Special Forces while others speculated that it was due to the confiscation of a huge depot of arms the organization had stowed away in deep holes in the region.
A more profound reason for the attack was also formulated by some analysts shows that Al-Shabab launched the attack in a bid to establish terrorist cells in Ethiopia and to use these cells as jump seats to launch further attacks in mainland Ethiopia. Ethiopian peace keeping forces are in Somalia with a double mission of ascertaining stability in Somalia and also to keep at bay the terrorist organization from intruding into the territorial integrity of Ethiopia.
By attacking restive villages in the Somali region, Al-Shabab has tried to test its strategy of further stretching into the areas to be covered by the ENDF and thereby weaken the defense forces of the country in a vast expanse of the Ethiopia Somali Region.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2024
