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The Somali-based al-Shabaab militant group denied contact with the Somali government after the country’s undersecretary of defense claimed the militants had asked for negotiations for the first time.
“There is no discussion between us,” an unnamed al-Shabaab official from the group’s media arm told a pro-al-Shabaab website in a statement published on Sunday.
Deputy Defense Minister Abdifata Qasim told journalists in Mogadishu on Saturday that “al-Shabaab has demanded to start negotiations with the Somali government, but there are two groups within al-Shabaab.”
He said Somali members of al-Shabaab “have the opportunity to start negotiations, but the foreigners who invaded our country do not have the right to negotiate. The only option is to return to their country of origin.” Stated.
Read also: Al-Shabaab detained fishermen in Somalia repatriated to Iran
Qasim said, “For the sake of the Somalis, we are ready to accept them because they are willing to surrender to the Somali government.
They must follow government instructions, reintegrate into society, or face the Somali National Army on the front lines. ”
It was the first time the Somali federal government claimed that a militant group had requested the meeting.
The comments came amid a military offensive launched by the government last year, described as “all-out war.” Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group that has carried out high-profile bombings in Somalia’s capital for more than a decade and has controlled parts of the country’s central and southern regions, has been decimated after decades of civil war. It complicates efforts to rebuild a once-failed nation. .
Al-Shabaab has thousands of fighters, including an unknown number of foreigners, from both regional countries such as neighboring Kenya and beyond.
Militants have carried out several high-profile attacks in Kenya over the years, including in the capital Nairobi and military bases used by the United States.
Al-Shabaab has long sought to impose strict Islamic law on Somalia and demand the withdrawal of foreign forces operating in the Horn of Africa.
The US has a military presence in Somalia to combat militants, along with Turkey and the multinational African Union Forces.
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