Somalia: Hundreds Attend Govt Rally Against Al-Shabab

Facts

• Hundreds of Somalis gathered on Thursday at a stadium in the capital city of Mogadishu to protest against the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group, an event also attended by Somalia's Pres. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
• Addressing the crowd that waved flags and placards with anti-al-Shabab messages, Mohamud described members of the militant group as "bedbugs" and urged ordinary people to help flush them out.
• Despite heightened security around the stadium, police and witnesses reported an explosion as people were heading to Thursday's rally, allegedly due to a landmine planted on the road. There have yet been no confirmed casualties.
• This protest, reportedly the biggest of its kind in more than a decade, comes as the government has launched a military, economic, and ideological campaign aimed at defeating al-Shabab.
• Pres. Mohamud announced a "total war" against al-Shabab when he took office in May 2022, recently reporting that over 500 militants have been killed as the military seized so-called strategic towns across the country.
• The militant al-Shabab group, which has been waging an insurgency against the internationally-backed central government since 2007, remains entrenched in rural parts of central and southern Somalia and has retaliated the ongoing offensive with a string of attacks.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Africa, Horn Observer, VOA, and Garowe.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by VOA. The Somali government under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed has done a formidable job in its efforts to defeat al-Shabab and liberate Somalis from oppression. Since engaging in concerted efforts, with the support of the US, to retake territories from the militant group, the Somali military has seized nearly 70 localities and is continuing to win on behalf of the Somali people.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Som Tribune. Somalia is still a nation in crisis and Pres. Hassan Sheikh Mohamed has not provided stability or a strong alternative to al-Shabab. Though small victories like this are lauded by western and African politicians alike, Mohamed's recent strategy of calling for localities to arm themselves in the fight will only repeat the failed policies of the 1980s and 1990s. Even if al-Shabab vanishes, new factions will likely emerge and keep the country in a state of chaos until a national civic pact is implemented.