Somalia’s new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says ending Al-Shabaab’s violent insurgency requires more than a military approach and his government will negotiate with the extremist group only when the time is right.
He said the Al-Qaeda affiliate network that is responsible for deadly attacks across East Africa had developed a “coping mechanism” to military aggression and could not be eliminated by force alone.
Al-Shabaab has been seeking to overthrow the foreign-backed government in Mogadishu for over a decade and remains a deadly threat despite efforts to defeat them militarily.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected in May after previously serving as president from 2012 to 2017, said past approaches to Al-Shabaab had not worked, and his government was open to alternatives including talks when appropriate.
“We are not right now in a position to negotiate with Al-Shabaab. We will, at the right time,” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told a think tank during a visit to Turkey this week.
“Even now, we open the door for those who want to denounce the violence, the extremist ideologies and join the mainstream life in Somalia,” He further added.
Al-Shabaab fighters were driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by an African Union force but the group still controls swathes of countryside and has the capacity to launch frequent and deadly strikes on civilian and military targets.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said containing the militants in Somalia and degrading them militarily — the two key policies of past Somali administrations backed by foreign partners — had not proved enough on their own.
Al-Shabaab had “developed a coping mechanism so that even if their facilities are destroyed, they have the capacity to re-establish it again” and return to the battlefield, He said.
The former academic and peace activist said that cutting off Al-Shabaab’s financial flows and countering their hateful message, needed to complement a military approach.
Shortly after his election, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud welcomed an announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden to redeploy American troops to Somalia, reversing a decision by Donald Trump to withdraw most US forces from the fight against Al-Shabaab.