by Muuse Yuusuf
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Abdul Haji, Somali-Kenyan rescuing child during the Westgate mall massacre - GORAN TOMASEVIC/REUTERS
Families from at
least ten countries are mourning for the death of their loved ones who had been
murdered by the Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab terror group at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi. They cannot understand why their loved ones had
to meet violent death at the hands of this murderous terrorist cult that has
mainly been terrorising Somalis. Whole families, including children and their
parents, have been wiped out in this awful massacre for no other reason than minding
their business at the Nairobi’s famous shopping mall.
It seems the
attack was pre-planned and well-organised to the extent that attackers were
able to smuggle in the mall a huge amount of ammunition and weapons, which enabled
them hold their lines of defence for three days. There are even some
suggestions that attackers rented a shop at the mall prior to the attack as a
cover up for their secret plot.
The Westgate
incident has given the terrorists a wider publicity for their organisation and
their “cause”, claiming that their action was a revenge for the invasion of
Kenyan forces of Somalia in 2011. They have also shown that, although their
power and influence have been in decline due to leader-fallouts, a handful of
well-organised and well-motivated individuals can stage deadly and spectacular
guerrilla attacks in well-known urban centres, reminding us of the terrorist
attacks of New York’s World Trade Centre, Mumbai hotel and many others.
The Kenyan
government and the public are in deep shock to see a famous shopping centre
full of hundreds of shoppers blown up into pieces by a ferocious fight by a
handful of terrorists. As shown by an emotional president Uhuru Kenyatta, it is
particularly heart-breaking for the Kenyan government to watch its citizens butchered
at the heart of its capital city by Al-Shabaab, the same organisation that
prompted Kenyan forces to invade Somalia.
Indeed, it is
nearly two years since the invasion and anyone who examines the current situation
on the ground can see the following scenarios becoming reality as the days go
by.
If the invasion was
meant to protect Kenyan citizens and country’s tourism industry from bombings
and kidnappings by terrorists, it has failed to do so. Let alone protect the tourism
resorts of Mombasa and Malindi, bombings have became normal features in Nairobi
as evidenced by the Eastleigh bus bombing in 2012 and the Westgate mall massacre.
Two years ago, who would have thought bombs planted by Al-Shabaab would explode
in Nairobi, equating this beautiful metropolitan city to the war-torn Mogadishu
in terms of insecurity?
If the military
adventure was aimed at securing Kenya’s borders with Somalia, insecurity along
the border is worse than ever. Remnants of Al-Shabaab and the Kenyan security
forces hunt-down each other alongside this porous border.
Although Kenyan
forces have helped the Somali government to remove Al-Shabaab from some regions,
including the strategic port town of Kismayo, it seems though the problem has
shifted to Kenya, particularly the Somali region where insecurity has increased
compared to the situation prior to the invasion.
Crackdowns and
raids on towns in the Somali region in Kenya by the Kenyan security forces demonstrate
the gravity of the situation inside the country. In 2012, Garissa, a city of 350km north-east
of Nairobi, was reported to be a “ghost” town after sweeping security
operations mounted by the military,
causing the death of many people, including students.
The invasion
could possibly stir Somali irredentism in the Somali region, which was caused
by the annexation of the region to Kenya by British colonial powers although Somalis
overwhelmingly voted to be united with their brethren in Somalia. Al-Shabaab
and some underground liberation movements in the region would use the presence
of Kenyan forces in Somalia as a pretext to recruit militants, launching occasional
guerrilla warfare inside Kenya. Therefore, Kenya’s ill planned and ill-thought
invasion of Somalia could produce the revival of Somali nationalism in the
region, a sensitive issue that caused insurgency during the annexation. The
longer the Kenyan forces remain in Somalia, the more likely they will be
perceived as occupiers that are determined to annex Kismayo to Kenya.
Knowing the
history of this volatile region, it is this author’s firm believe that border
countries or front line states, Kenya and Ethiopia, should be excluded from any
peace-keeping or peace-enforcement operations because their presence will only complicate
the situation. As we all know the
Ethiopian invasion helped create Al-Shabaab and extremism, the opposite of what
the military adventure was supposed to achieve.
Indeed, the UN
Security Council has prohibited front-line state from becoming part of
peace-keeping/enforcement forces. Unfortunately, Ethiopia and Kenya failed to
respect the will of the international community and their forces invaded
Somalia in 2006 and 2011 respectively. This is again demonstrates how these two
countries, who have been conspiring against Somalia, are willing to use force
against a broken country for fear of Somali nationalism.
So when dealing
with this new development in the region, the international community should
keep in mind of the existing unbalanced power structure in the region in which
Somalia, a poor and broke nation found itself tormented and bullied by two
powerful neighbours that are resolute in enhancing their national interests
through the barrel of gun regardless of the outcome and human suffering or
material costs. The international community should be extremely wary of Kenya’s
motives.
In short, Kenya,
please come out of Somalia quickly before it is too late. By staying in Somalia,
Kenya might be making the chance of stabilising Somalia much harder, as it might
be jeopardising its own internal security.
Muuse Yuusuf
[email protected]