He has been
replaced by Sheikh Mohamed Bishaar who is reportedly building up forces
for a counter-attack on the town at Taraqa, 15 kilometres outside
Fafadun bringing in reinforcements from Bardheere 70 kms away. The
Kenyan troops in the town repulsed an attack on Saturday and together
with TFG and Ahlu Sunna wal Jama’a militia are expected to continue
their advance. According to reports from the area at the end of last
week, Al-Shabaab forces were leaving Buur Dhuubo on the road to
Bardheere and additional Kenyan forces have been moving into Gedo
region.
In the last few days, Kenyan planes have carried out a string of attacks on Al-Shabaab bases in Gedo region, claiming to have killed at least 50 Al-Shabaab fighters over the weekend. Al-Shabaab acknowledged the raids but denied the numbers killed. On Sunday there were reports that following the raids Al-Shabaab forces were leaving the Buur Dhuubo district and crossing back in to Bay and Bakool regions. Indeed, following these Kenyan airstrikes on Al-Shabaab positions in Gedo there have been claims that up to a thousand Al-Shabaab fighters retreated back across the Juba into Bakool region. The fighters were under the command of Moallim Jimaw, overall commander for Bay, Bakool and Gedo regions. The move, however, did not meet with the approval Amir Abdi Godane who has now relieved Moallim Jimaw of his command. Sheikh Mahad Omar Abdikarim, Al-Shabaab’s governor of Bay and Bakool has been appointed military commander instead. The move has not been accepted by some of Moallim Jimaw’s forces and Sheikh Mahad is reported to have felt it necessary to send some forces to take over positions occupied by dissidents. Some Al-Shabaab officials in Baidoa are also said to have been strongly critical of Moallim Jimaw’s dismissal.
Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab has issued a new video on a
jihadist website calling on Muslim youths in Kenya to join Al-Shabaab in
its opposition to Kenyan forces in Somalia. The speaker is Ahmed Iman
Ali who according to the United Nations Monitoring Group for Somalia and
Eritrea is the head of the Muslim Youth Center in Nairobi which has
been recruiting and training youngsters for Al-Shabaab. The last
Monitoring Group report said Ahmed Iman Ali has been based in Somalia
since 2009 and commanded a force of up to 500 fighters most from Kenya.
His latest video is aimed specifically to Kenyans and he is, unusually,
speaking in Swahili rather than Somali, apparently aiming to recruit
support in Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda as well as Kenya.
Al-Shabaab has always tried to recruit foreign fighters including some
from the US and the UK and its first major operation outside Somalia
took place in July 2010, when suicide bombers killed 79 people and
wounded many others at two nightclubs in Kampala.