THE AL SHABAAB ISLAMISTS TERRORISTS IN SOMALIA HAVE ACQUIRED THE SERVICES OF FOREIGN MERCENARY FIGHTERS RECRUITED FROM KENYA,UGANDA AND OTHER NATIONS.

News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

KENYANS, and Ugandans are among more than one thousand foreign militants fighting alongside Al-Shabaab forces to overthrow the UN and African Union supported Transitional Somali Government..

This startling revelation was made yesterday in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, by the AU Special representative for Somalia, Wafula Wamunyinyi, a former Kenyan MP-turned diplomat..

The AU representative also listed Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, America, Tanzania ,Sudan as countries where Al-Shabaab militants have recruited its foreign fighters.

Speaking at the opening of a confidence building workshop for the Somalia peacekeeping mission, dubbed AMISOM, Wafula Wamunyinyi pointed out that the presence of Al-Qaeda in Somalia is real and the world should be put on notice.

The AU diplomat observed that the managers and operational commanders of Al-Shabaab belong to Al-Daeda.

“If we don’t put our hands together, the Al-Qaeda will take over Somalia and then spread its terrorists activities to other neighboring African nations, considering the grip they have on Somalia,” Wafula Wamunyinyi said.

“With the involvement of foreign fighters, we need to adopt a new approach towards the conflict in Somalia, away from the perception that these are sub-clans fighting.”

The Special representative informed the two days workshop, held at Speke Resort Munyonyo, that Al-Shabaab has established training camps with Al-Qaeda’s help and financial assistance. “With Al-Qaeda training, you know what to expect, suicide bombing and kidnaps,” he noted.

The AU official said Al-Shabaab foreign fighters strength is currently being estimated to be approximately 1200, half of whom are said to be Kenyans. But others are scattered in other smaller towns, scattered all over the Horn of African nations, and as such the exact figure cold not be assessed.

Wafula Wamunyinyi noted that the foreigners holding important positions within Al-Shabaab establishment as Sheikh Mohamed Abu Faid, a Saudi Arabian born, who is the financier and current ”manager”of the group, while one Abu Musa Mombasa is the head of security and training operations. Mombasa purportedly arrived in Somalia recently from Pakistan to replace Saleh Ali Nebhan, a Kenyan who was killed in US military operation.

Another important foreign element is Abu Mansur Al-Amrik,an American, heads the finance and payroll department of the foreign fighters, while Muhamed Mujijir, a Sudanese is in charge of recruitment of suicide bombers, said Wafula Wamunyinyi.

Also l listed is Ahmed Abdi Godane, an Al-Qaeda graduate from Afghanistan,and Abu Suleiman Banidiri, a Somali of Yemen descent.
Wafula Wamunyinyi said AMISOM has been able to collect valuable information about the fundamentalists through intelligence gathering . “Several militant foreign fighters have also been killed, “ he added.

The AMISOM spokesman, Major Bohoko Bargye told the government owned newspaper, THE NEWVISION that he had personally talked to the three of the Ugandan Al-Shabaab fighters, who issued threats against him, claiming that they knew his whereabouts, and the whereabouts of all his relatives back home in Kampala.

Ajor Bargye said the three spoke Luganda,Kifumbira and Iteso, local dialects in Uganda respectively. He said one of the Ugandan mercenaries had told him that he was a member of the Alliance Democratic Forces {ADF}, a rebel group that is fighting the Ugandan government and operating inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Majr Bohoko noted that despite the challenge posed by the militants, the AU mission would not demand a change of its mandate.

Al-Qaeda involvement was not a secret, he observed, saying the terrorists published their presence on the various websites, claiming they were in Somalia to defend their Muslim brothers.

“Going by the information we have gathered, these people are fugitives. They are being sought for by security agencies and criminal investigators for criminal activities, in other countries and were now caught up in this web”.
“They are creating anarchy because they don’t know where to go next if the conflict in Somalia get solved,”said Major Bargye.

He went on saying that Al-Shabaab Islamist Extremist want Somalia to be portrayed as a no-go area, a country that cannot be rectified, so that social criminals from around the world can continue operating from it with impunity.

The two day conference was intended to create awareness among the media and civil society organizations on current and potential peacekeeping troops contributing countries.

Uganda and Burundi are the only countries that have contributed soldiers to the AU mission..

Djbouti, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Malawi promised to send troops, but they have not done so. Out of the 8,000 soldiers needed to pacify the Somali capital, Mogadishu alone has 5,000 deployed.

Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com