Somalia committed to continue war against al-Shabaab terror group: President

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Somalia's president announced Tuesday that his administration is focusing on uprooting the al-Shabaab terror group from the country.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud praised lawmakers for standing with the national army in the fight against al-Shabaab.

“Today we're at a time where defeat and retreat are not an option and we’re committed to liberating our country from the Khawarijs," Mohamud said, referring to the group, at the opening of the second parliament session in the highly fortified presidential compound in the nation’s capital of Mogadishu.

His speech was his second since he took office.

Mohamud also announced that his administration is committed to tackling a drought that has affected more than 7 million of the 15 million people in the country and has killed millions of livestock.

Turning to foreign policy and his overseas trips to Somalia’s close friends, including Türkiye, he said anyone will be welcome who put the national interest first.

“Somalia needs more friends than it needs enemies,” he said.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with al-Shabaab being one of the main threats in the Horn of Africa country.

Since at least 2007, al-Shabaab has waged a deadly campaign against the government and international forces that have claimed thousands of lives, including a car bomb attack in late October in Mogadishu that killed at least 100 people and wounded 300 others.

The UN has warned of growing instability in the country, with periodic reports on Somalia detailing attacks by al-Shabaab and pro-Daesh/ISIS terror groups.

There were at least 1,518 civilian casualties, 651 killed and 867 injured, in terror attacks in Somalia in 2018, followed by 1,459 -- 591 killed and 868 injured -- in 2019, according to the UN in Somalia.