Somalia rallies grassroots to oppose jihadist Al Shabab. Will it work?
Set in the middle of no man’s land, the desert village of Qoryaale had no presence of Somalia security forces, and Islamist Al Shabab militants were very close by.
Which is why Somali parliament member Malik Abdalla – driven to act by images of Al Shabab atrocities against civilians, and armed with the new Somali government’s determination to wage “total war” against the jihadis – went there in early October.
His aim: to mobilize local clans to join the most serious effort to date to take on the Islamists and end their 15-year insurgency by fighting alongside the Somali National Army (SNA) and American-trained Somali Special Forces.
Using what he says was a loud voice, Mr. Abdalla called on village residents to bring out their guns and to overcome their suspicions after decades of government neglect, in a country beset by constant conflict and multiple droughts.
It was time to
