When President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed better known as Farmajo won the February 8 election, Somalia was in jubilation, optimist that the new president will reach out to the extremist group.
Contrary to the expectation, the extremist group continues to conduct vicious attacks in Somalia will the latest attack in a Mogadishu market that left 39 innocent men, women and children killed.
Al-Shabaab commander issued a statement saying the extremist group opposes the election of the new President.
In an audio message released via Al-Shabaab pro-channels on Sunday, Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, a senior commander of the extremist group, called Somalia's new president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed an "apostate".
Yaqub went ahead to warn Somali populous of dire consequence if they support him. This was the first official Al-Shabaab message since President Farmajo won the February polls.
The Al-Shabaab group seems bitter of him taking the highest office it the land citing how they lost control of Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital.
Over time, and with contribution of AU mission in Somalia, the group has suffered huge losses, including its high ranking commanders being killed. The extremist group affiliated to Al-Qaeda has also lost most of its key strongholds across south and central Somalia to a multi-pronged offensive by allied Somali and African Union forces.
Despite being ousted from most of Somalia's cities and towns, Al-Shabaab has reinvented its war strategies mostly using suicide bombers as their preferred tactic across large parts of south and central Somalia, including Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab's attacks threaten Somalia’s attempts to rebuild from decades of chaos.
