Al-Shabaab has lost territory, fighters and support from
the Somali people on a near daily basis since the end of 2011 with many
al-Shabaab members surrendering to African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) or
seeking refuge elsewhere in the Horn region
By Majid Ahmed in Mogadishu
Somalilandsun - The year-long internal crisis within
al-Shabaab intensified this month after the group's second-in-command sent a
stinging criticism of its leadership to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
reports Sabahi online.
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| Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri |
"If we are afraid of foreign players stealing the
outcomes of jihad, today we are witnessing a reality that indicates that an
internal deviation could lead to losing the profits of our effort in
vain," Ibrahim al-Afghani said in an open letter released April 6th on a number
of jihadist websites. He said he felt compelled to write the missive, titled
"An Open Letter to Our Amir Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri", "on
behalf of the silent majority" of al-Shabaab fighters.
Al-Afghani, whose real name is Ibrahim Haji Jama Meeaad and
is also known as Abu Bakr al-Zaylai, is considered one of the founders of
al-Shabaab and one of its only leaders trained in Afghan al-Qaeda camps in the
1990s. Until now, he avoided making public statements and preferred keeping a
low-profile and working behind the scenes.
In the letter, al-Afghani paints a bleak picture of
al-Shabaab and rebukes its leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu
Zubayr. He said al-Shabaab's current situation is "getting worse and
nothing is visible on the horizon", calling on al-Zawahiri to intervene in
order to find solutions to the rifts affecting the militants.
"Now, this is no time to wait or an occasion to be
patient," he said in his 15-page letter. "We are walking in a dark
tunnel and we do not know what is hiding for us in it, except for Allah the
sovereign and wise."
As a result of internal divisions, al-Afghani said,
al-Shabaab has lost most of the land it once controlled as well as the trust
and support of the Somali people. "We have witnessed an obvious drawback
in the achievements of the muhajideen.
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| A series of videos featuring Abu Mansour al-Amriki have contributed to the crisis within al-Shabaabs ranks |
Ten states were under the rule of the movement four years
ago, which came with the possession of huge human resources and the sympathy of
our Muslim people," he said.
"Now, the jihadi spirit has receded and the motives
for creation and production have been destroyed," he said, adding that
skilled and talented people have been increasingly marginalised from al-Shabaab's
ranks.
Godane has created an atmosphere devoid of new ideas,
calling anyone who questions him a traitor, al-Afghani said. "Denying the
repeated oppression of [Godane] against the Muslim people or about the rights
of the mujahideen is understood by some as armed disobedience against the emir
of the believers and straying away from the Muslim community," he said.
"[Godane] has secret prisons where whoever enters
these prisons is lost forever and those who manage to get out receive a second
lease on life," al-Afghani said. "These prisons come in many forms
and none of the clerics or leaders are allowed to visit or inspect them. What
happens in there are horrifically shocking violations of prisoners'
rights."
Speaking about the fighters who have broken off from
al-Shabaab's central leadership because of their opposition to Godane,
al-Afghani writes, "Not only are those who refuse oppression and
humiliation targeted, they are given no space and deprived of the simplest
rights in life and left in the woods with the lions to face slow death."
Letter represents al-Shabaab's 'death certificate'
Omar Dahir, security analyst and director of the
Mogadishu-based Centre for Moderation and Dialogue, said al-Afghani's letter
reflects his worries about the militant group's future after its internal
crisis reached a "stage that could lead to the total collapse of the
movement".
"The tone of despair in al-Afghani's letter to
al-Qaeda's leader is the equivalent of a death certificate for
al-Shabaab," Dahir told Sabahi. "In essence, this message from
al-Afghani to al-Qaeda's leader reflects the deep crisis that al-Shabaab is
suffering from within as well as its decline and retreat."
Abdullahi Sheikh Ahmed, a political analyst and former
leader in the Islamic Courts Union from which the al-Shabaab movement was born,
said that hardliners have split into factions because of what he described as
diverging interests.
Last year, as al-Shabaab began to sustain back-to-back
losses, a rift among the group's leadership started to emerge, dividing the
leadership in two camps: one with Godane and al-Afghani, considered hardliners
who favoured the idea of al-Shabaab expanding beyond the Somali borders, and
the other with Sheikh Mukhtar Robow and Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who
preferred limiting the group's activities to Somalia.
Al-Afghani's plea for an intervention and public
criticism of Godane underscores the gravity of the situation, as their
allegiance was considered the last foundation block of al-Shabaab.
"As time passed, allegiances and interests changed
until [Godane's] more radical wing -- the Followers of the Religion of Abraham
-- considered to be the most solid group within al-Shabaab based on its
connection with its parent organisation, al-Qaeda, and its control over sources
of funding and power, disintegrated," Ahmed told Sabahi.
"Ahmed Godane's monopoly on power and imposing
totalitarian rule is the reason why there has been a widening chasm between him
and the other leaders within the group such as Sheikh Mukhtar Robow," he
added. "It is only natural that when the political, military and financial
gains erode, the upper echelons of al-Shabaab start blaming one another and it
should come as no surprise that divisions will continue as each wing tries to
take hold of what is left of those gains."
Letter sows discord between militants on social media
Since the letter was released, a wave of activity has
occurred on social media involving various actors in the global jihadist
network.
There has been, however, a noticeable absence in the
debate: al-Shabaab's official Twitter account has not yet addressed the letter,
and instead has continued to proclaim unproven tactical victories against
"the kuffar".
Al-Shabaab's silence on the matter was explained in a
series of posts by Abu M, the Twitter handle of American-born jihadist Omar
Hammami, better known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki.
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| al-Shabaab members surrender to African Union Mission in Somalia AMISOM |
"Recent actions of shabab show they are very afraid
and [apprehensive] of what this letter might do to their credibility & power on the ground," Abu M tweeted on April 6th.
"Al-Afghani was a key founder of shabab and the amir shura. He was wali of
kismayu for a while as well."
Al-Amriki, continuing his efforts to show that he and his
followers are not alone in their opposition to Godane's leadership, posted on
April 8th, "the founders of shabab and myself are all united against oppression
and in contact on a daily basis".
"My aim is to document shabab's destruction of
itself so that the ummah can stop it or at least not repeat the same," Abu
M added.
The Muslim Youth Centre (MYC), al-Shabaab's recruitment
wing in Kenya, was quick to react to the letter's presence, openly admitting to
the divisions within al-Shabaab's leadership.
"While da letter may ave come frm Al-Afghani da
brains behind it was that toxic mujahid," MYC tweeted on April 7th,
referring to al-Amriki, whose messages in recent months have exposed the
growing rift within al-Shabaab.
"Al-Afghani is the second founding father of shabab.
You are a girl in Kenya," Abu M told the MYC, which responded, "u run
to al-Afghani to help u sow discord. Yes, am a girl in Kenya like dat makes a
difference u misogynist!"
The bitter infighting on social media caused by the
escalating crisis within al-Shabaab, as exemplified above, was even addressed
by al-Afghani in his letter to al-Zawahiri. The ongoing problems within
al-Shabaab "start and never end, and continue and escalate ... then, the
world witnesses the beginning of the fierce media war inside the social media
rooms, with Twitter relaying its events to everyone!"
Source: http://sabahionline.com
