Somalia: Al-Shabaab fights back

As reported by Al-Jazeera on 29 September 2023, a suicide attack on a tea shop in Mogadishu killed seven civilians. The attack occurred near the presidential palace and the shop was frequented by both security personnel and government staff. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by al-Shabaab through the Shahada News Agency. Hours earlier, five civilians were killed and 13 others wounded by a car bomb detonated near a market in central Somalia. Further attacks by al-Shabaab – including rocket attacks - have continued into October; one of the targets was Turkey’s largest overseas training camp TURKSOM (The Somali Digest, 1 October 2023).

World Watch Research analyst Yonas Dembele comments: “Many of the attacks over the past weeks have targeted civilians in territory now under government control following a military offensive against al-Shabaab, but operations against military targets have also taken place. The aim is to so cripple the security apparatus that al-Shabaab can reassert its dominance. The pervasive threat of violence and persecution makes it exceedingly difficult for any religious minority to openly identify or gather for worship, which is why the country ranked #2 in the Open Doors World Watch List 2023.”