Al-Shabaab recruits hungry Somali refugees
In this edition, Al-Shabaab is using Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to lure young refugees to fight in Somalia.
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THE STORY
On Sunday, Somalia agreed to move away from decades of clan-based power sharing toward a direct electoral system in which each citizen has a vote. The country will also switch to a presidential, rather than a parliamentary, system with the president and the vice president elected on a single ticket. The first election under the new system is likely to be held by June 2024. But while Somali leaders agreed to make these democratic changes, Somali troops were battling militants from the Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab.
Last week, Al-Shabaab attacked Ugandan peacekeeping troops at an African Union base located about 75 miles from the Somali capital Mogadishu. And on May 30 Reuters reported that at least 17 people had died in the fighting between Somali troops and Al-Shabaab militants on a base in a town in the middle of Somalia, some 180 miles from the capital. The United States apparently struck Al-Shabaab positions from the air on May 26 to support both the Somali government and the African Union. Reports also indicate that the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, in a recent meeting with a Somali delegation in Moscow promised to provide military support to Somali government troops.