Nathan Crites-Herren
The Paw Print
At least 70 people were killed by a truck bomb that exploded outside of a government compound on Oct. 5 in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. The fierce attack left burning bodies strewn across several blocks, in an area thought to be controlled to by the Somali transitional government.
The protected compound was the location of the Somali cabinet and eight ministries, including the Ministry of Education. Government meetings were underway as the blast occurred, but many of the victims were soldiers standing guard outside the compound and students awaiting results on scholarship exams. Militant group Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the largest attack by Al-Shabab since the beginning of their insurgency in 2007.
This recent attack comes has much of Southern Somalia remains under the control of Al-Shabab. Many Somali citizens place blame on Al-Shabab for the lack of aide being allowed to enter Southern Somali, claiming that Al-Shabab has instigated the famine that now encompasses much of the African Horn.
Shortly after the 2007 insurgency the militant Islamist group Al-Shabab proclaimed its allegiance to Al-Qaeda, putting it on US intelligence radar as the number one threat facing East Africa. Al-Shabab began to quickly gain control of the southern region of Somalia, in response U.S. involvement and support of the then Somali government increased and continues to grow today as Al-Shabab seems to be a permanent and powerful force in the region.
U.S. involvement with Somali government forces has created some strange bed-fellows, perhaps the most intriguing being Indha Adde his nom de guerre, meaning White Eyes. Adde, a three star Somali general was awarded his power and legitimacy by the US backed African Union Force known as AMISOM. This is quite a turnabout for Adde, because just five years earlier he was an active member of Al-Qaeda and a powerful leader of one of the most feared paramilitary fractions of Al-Shabab. Adde, admits openly to housing some of the most notorious Al-Qaeda figures-including Fazul Abdulla Mohamed who was responsible for the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania-and to deceiving CIA operatives on more than one occasion in order to protect Al-Qaeda operatives.
As one of the main war lords during the 1990 Somali civil war, post 9/11 Adde was awarded support from the CIA under their operation entitled, Alliance for Counter-terrorism and the Restoration of Peace which quickly gained him a reputation as being extremely brutal to the point where he was nicknamed “the butcher” by the local population. The CIA provided lists of possible terrorist suspects for Adde to go after giving him free reign to impose his brutality on anyone suspected of Islamic Militancy. On top of that there were wide spread allegations of drug running and weapons smuggling that reached as far as Europe.
The fact that Adde was once an Al-Shabab leader, Al-Qaeda operative, brutal CIA war lord and now happens to work for the US backed Somali transitional Government leaves an unsavory taste in the mouths of many Somalis who claim that Adde is playing both sides looking to increase his political clout with the Al-Shabab Militants as well as the US backed Somali transitional government.
I want to commend Nathan Crites on his recent articles in The Paw Print. They expand the material this paper has previously offered to important global issues that the community should be aware about. He writes about important events, does good research, and writes well. I hope he will continue putting this effort into his articles and that The Paw Print will appreciate his efforts. Great job!