Somalia’s new prime minister said on Wednesday night that 8,000 government troops will start waging attacks on Islamist insurgents and al-Qaeda terrorists “very, very soon.”
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali-American educator, also said in an interview that increased US and international support for his government was essential to end Somalia’s lawlessness and prevent terrorists from continuing to use the country as a safe haven.
He also warned that nearly 2.5 million Somalis in both Islamist and government-controlled areas are on the verge of starvation and said some have already died. He urged immediate global help to prevent even more deaths than in the 1992 famine when 500,000 people died, saying the UN and other donors weren’t doing enough.
The UN said early last month that despite fragile improvement last year because of two good rainy seasons, Somalia still had 2 million people in crisis, including nearly 1.5 million displaced people.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 when warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on each other, plunging the country into chaos and anarchy.
The weak UN and US-backed transitional government, established in 2004, and a poorly resourced African Union peacekeeping force control only a small slice of Mogadishu and haven’t been able to push past the firing lines of Islamist insurgents who are set up only a few blocks from the presidential palace.
Since his 18-member Cabinet of Somali technocrats who had been living abroad was approved in late November, Mohamed said he spoken on the radio to let people know his government is honest and professional and will be transparent and accountable — unlike its predecessors. He also pledged to fight corruption and promote national reconciliation.
“It looks like now we are winning the propaganda war,” the prime minister said. “People are believing ... that we’re really serious and came back home to affect change.”
Mohamed pointed to a recent poll in Mogadishu showing 80 percent support for the government and just 7 percent for opposition groups, and the defection of some 40 youths from the Islamist group al-Shabab, Somalia’s most dangerous, “without firing any bullet.”
“Some people are saying as soon as we start waging some attack we may see a lot of defectors,” he said. “Definitely, it will happen very, very soon.”
Mohamed said his government’s policy remains the same to these “enemies of peace.” The government would prefer dialogue and reconciliation and has received “a lot of telephone calls” from middle-ranking members of both groups, he said, but if fighting continues it will use force.
Mohamed said there has been progress in reorganizing troops who were recently paid. The 8,000-strong force will include some 1,000 troops who will be returning from training in Uganda soon, he said.
However, he said that without financial support, his government couldn’t function. He said the international terrorists are well financed and have “a great network” that sends foreign fighters to Somalia.
“In order to face them effectively, you have to have the same resources they have,” he said.
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