Al-Shabaab Faces Pushback In Ethiopia’s, Somali Region

The number of militants who reached there is estimated to be between 50 and 100. But Somali Region officials repeatedly reported that al-Shabab militants who entered Ethiopia have been crushed. They ruled out the possibility that al-Shabab fighters are organized as a fighting force inside the region.

“Operations have officially lasted four to three and a half days,” the region’s deputy security chief Mohamed Ahmed Gurey said.

Gurey said al-Shabab’s strategy in Ethiopia has “failed.” Officials said they have seized weapons, walkie-talkies, SIM cards, phones, rice and sugar — indicating the militants planned for a lengthy operation inside Ethiopia.

“Since then, people in the rural areas and villagers have been hunting them, but their remnants have been apprehended yesterday and the day before in different locations,” Gurey said.

“They are on the run. Some are trying to return to Somalia. Some are thirsty and don’t know whether they are going. All that remains is clearing up.”

Officials believe al-Shabab wanted to reach the mountainous area near the small town of El Kari located close to the border with Oromia. The region’s officials confirmed the militants have been courting locals in that vicinity for at least a year.

El Kari is in an area where locals have some grievances stemming from land disputes, and where some locals may feel their concerns are not being addressed by the local administration, an official said.

The social integration of the locals is more connected to the southern regions of Somalia. The area is also strategic, mountainous and with enough water to support a farming and pastoral community.

Officials believe al-Shabab was building a local cell for at least a year. On July 15, five days before the al-Shabab invasion, regional security forces conducted an operation in the El Kari area that killed a local cleric identified as Sheikh Mohamed Hassan Osman. The region’s security chiefs accused him of being the al-Shabab “worker” in the area.

Osman’s body was displayed by the authorities, who described him as an al-Shabab commander. He allegedly fought against the security forces. Officials said they confiscated weapons during the operation that led to Osman’s killing.

“The information we have is that this man was important to al-Shabab and a pillar for their attempts to destabilize Ethiopia,” Gurey said.

He said al-Shabab’s target in this incursion was the El Kari area, which Gurey argues proves the information they had about Osman was correct.

Authorities alleged Osman possessed extremist views and was known to the authorities for many years.

“The view about him was that he is an extremist who will cause fitnah (trouble) sometime,” Gurey said.

Osman’s relatives could not be reached for comment.

Al-Shabab vowed to fight the Ethiopian forces and also has been conducting its own mobilization along the border.