Thousands of Somalians on Friday, took to the streets of Mogadishu, the country’s capital, in solidarity with the the government to protest against the al-Shabaab militant group.
The rally organised by the government against the al-Qaeda-backed group, is one of the measures put in place by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was part of the rally at a stadium under tight security, and used the event to call on Somalis to help flush out members of the al-Shabab group he described as “bedbugs”.
“I’m calling to you, the people of Mogadishu, the Kharijites (renegades) are amongst you … so flush them out. They are in your houses, they are your neighbours, in cars that pass you by,” Mohamud said while addressing the large crowd which was one of the largest public gatherings in recent years.
“I want us to commit today to flushing them out. They are like bedbugs under our clothes.
“We will never accept extremist killing or robbing our people and we will also never accept the killing of our innocent people. We will protect them from al-Shabaab. Anyone who does kills innocent people will face trial or justice.
““The people are tired of massacres, killings, and all kinds of misdeeds and they are now saying to al-Shabab: ‘Enough is enough’,” Mohamud said, as demonstrators waved flags and placards with anti-al-Shabaab messages.
For over a decade now, the al-Shabaab terrorists have been waging a bloody uprising against the central government, carrying out attacks in the country, especially in the capital with the aim of overthrowing the government and implementing a strict Sharia regime.
When Mohamud came into office in May last year, he had declared an all-out war against the group and urged locals to set up militia groups to chase them out of the communities.
The alliance between the government and the local militias have largely succeeded as lots of the terrorists have been pushed out of several territories they had hitherto held since the offensives were launched last August.