Al-Shabaab leaders Friday took advantage of Eid-el-Fitr prayers to urge more Somalis to join jihad (holy war) against forces protecting the federal government in Mogadishu.
Accompanied by their heavily armed lieutenants, the militants said their push for an Islamic state would not be stopped by African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) troops.
Sheikh Fu’ad Mohamed Khalaf alias Shongole, a senior leader within Al-Shabaab ranks, joined hundreds of faithful for the prayers to mark end of the holy month of Ramadhan at the coastal town of Barawe.
Shongole,
who is wanted by the US sponsoring and spreading terror in Somalia and
beyond, called on islamists to maintain unity. Last year, the US State
Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his
capture and conviction.
“We have to defend our push to establish an Islamic state where Sharia laws are implemented,” the hard-line cleric, who has been leading awareness campaigns for Al-Shabaab, said.His statement comes at a time internal rifts are reportedly plaguing the movement. Indeed some of Shongole’s own colleagues— Ibrahim al-Afghani and Abdihamid Hashi Olhaye alias Moalim Burhan— died in an intra-Al-Shabaab confrontation in Barawe Town in June.
In central region, Sheikh Hassan Yakoub, Al-Shabaab’s Wali (governor) in Galgadud, joined worshippers in Eelbuur town for the special prayers.
Sheikh Yakoub, a former governor of Kismayu, urged the public to join jihad.
“The war will continue until the troops supporting the (Somali) government are kicked out of the country,” he said.
Source: Nation
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