The international jihadist terrorist organization, Alshabaab has carried out another bloody Westgate-like attack on Hotel Jazeera in the heart of the Green Zone in Mogadishu killing 16 people and wounding 40 others in the New Years Eve2014. At a press conference, General Madaale , a police spokesman, said that  the terrorists’ second explosion after an hour of the first explosion targeting the emergency and security personnel has caused the most casualties.

This barbaric cowardly action follows a recent chilling warning from Al-shabaab, warning the people of Mogadishu to stay away from places frequented by government officials and from businesses run by people returning from abroad known as the Diaspora.

The terrorist attacks in Mogadishu are becoming more frequent and more violent day after day. The brazen assault on Mogadishu courthouse, the attack on the aid convoy, the attack on the UN compound, and the attacks on a number of restaurants, all occurring in Mogadishu within few months and more than 60 similar atrocities during the year, used the same tactics: suicide bombing followed by gunmen storming the facility and shooting randomly. These hard-hitting attacks, intended to cause mass casualties have accomplished their objective. Hundreds of innocent men, women, and children have been killed. 

What is dreadfully worrisome is the fact that the worst is yet to come for the residents of Mogadishu.  According to a new documentary titled "Exclusive: Inside an Al-shabaab training camp” by Jamal Osman who was given access by Alshabaab to one of its training camps near Mogadishu, confirmed the doomsday scenario often t portrayed by the Alshabaab leaders when they make threats against the governments of Somalia and other countries like Kenya.

"… the most popular unit is the Istishhadyin unit, the suicide brigade. And believe it or not, there’s a long waiting list of several years. With months of training, only the best recruits will be accepted” declares the narrator in the documentary. Similar report from BBC reporter Mark Doyle characterized Alshabaab as a "potent threat”.

This is genocide of massive proportions targeting particularly residents of this city. The goal is to exterminate them or force them to flee. Mr. Mohamed Nur Tarzan, The Mayor of Mogadishu last week blamed Ahmed Abdi Aw-Mohamed ”Ahmed Godane”,  leader of the Alshabaab terrorist group who hails from the Northern Regions of Somalia  for ordering these massacres to avenge for the events of 1988.

The Federal Government’s ability to fight effectively the terrorist s is being hindered by external and internal stakeholders namely: Secessionists in some regions of Somalia, some UN agencies; NGOs and some local Somali NGOs. These groups feed lies and falsifications to the "Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea” and donor countries. They make wild unsubstantiated accusations of corruption against the Federal Government. They pay hefty amounts of money to individuals in the academia in the West and some others who call themselves experts on Somalia who are based in Nairobi, to demonize the government and to promote their agenda. Their prime objective is to divert and misappropriate through corruption funds donated to the Government by positioning themselves as a Middleman.

Their poster girl, Yusur Abraar, who also hails from Somaliland, resigned from her post as the head of the Central Bank of Somalia immediately after setting foot in Mogadishu for the first time in 20 years without even staying for a week. She confided to a friend that she could not adapt to the harsh and often dangerous conditions in Mogadishu. The Mafia with the "NGO mask” has enticed her with a promise of a safer better paying job to frame the Federal Government as corruption riddled people.

Ali Mohamed Ghedi,the former Prime Minster of Somalia (a well known critic of the Government), in a TV interview accused these NGOs of delivering only 10% of funds entrusted to them to the intended people. The rest of the funds go to support their lavish lifestyle. He also commended the Government for delivering 100% of funds to the disaster stricken areas of Puntland and Middle Shabelle Regions of Somalia.

These stakeholders also want to interfere with the momentum gained by the Government Forces on their war on terror in order to perpetuate the war in the South Somalia.

The Federal Government does not have any meaningful revenue of its own and relies entirely on foreign assistance to pay its armed forces and employees and to sustain the war effort.

The war against Alshabaab terrorists in Somalia warrants greater American and European direct involvement with the Somali Government. The Government urgently needs military hardware and funds to fight the terrorists and eliminate them once and for all before it is too late. The worst thing that could happen is to wait and let this terrorist become a global menace

Abdinur Ali Farah

Toronto, Canada

Email:  [email protected]