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Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday called on the public to help clean up members of al-Shabaab’s jihadist group, which he described as “bed bugs.”
Mohamud addressed a large crowd at a government-sponsored rally against al-Qaeda-linked militants at a stadium in the capital Mogadishu under heavy security.
“I am calling out to the people of Mogadishu. The Harijites (rebels) are among you…so get them out. They are in your house, your neighbors, and the cars that pass you. I’m in,’ he said.
As demonstrators waved flags and placards with anti-Al-Shabaab messages, he said, “I want you to promise to wipe them out today. They are like bed bugs under our clothes.” It’s something,” he added.
Al-Shabaab has been waging a bloody insurgency against a fragile, internationally-backed central government for 15 years and has launched attacks in both Somalia and neighboring countries where it has sent troops to help fight extremists. are doing
“People are fed up with massacres, killings and injustices of all kinds and they are telling al-Shabaab ‘enough is enough’,” Mohamud said.
Shortly after taking office last May, the president declared “total” war against Islamist fighters.
In recent months, the army and local clan militias have retaken swaths of territory in the heart of the country in operations supported by US airstrikes and African Union forces.
But the militants frequently retaliated with bloody attacks, highlighting their ability to hit Somali towns and military centers despite the attacks.
Although expelled from Mogadishu and other major urban centers more than a decade ago, al-Shabaab remains entrenched in rural central and southern Somalia.
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