Al-Qaeda’s general leadership issued an online statement on October 16, 2019 praising Al-Shabaab, its official branch in East Africa. The statement levied heavy praises on Al-Shabaab’s recent attacks on SNA and allied foreign troops in Somalia.
Ibrahim al Qosi, a senior Al-Qaeda leader in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and former Guantanamo detainee praised Al-Shabaab recent successes. It worthy to note that some senior AQAP leaders are also believed to serve within Al-Qaeda’s general command.
The Al-Qaeda’s statement begins by praising the Shabaab foot soldiers for ‘inflicting humiliating defeats on Western interests in Somalia besides exposing their hidden role’.
The statement noted of some of the recent attacks by Al-Shabaab on foreign troops in the Shabelle region of southern Somalia noting the attack represented the biggest blow in the history of the contemporary Crusader occupation of Somalia.
The general leadership of Al-Shabaab promotes attacks on foreign troops boosting the valiant men of Shabaab will continue, dispatching Americans in coffins from the defiant land of Somalia.
Among the notable attack claimed by the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab was orchestrated last month on the US base in Baledogle where the terrorist group claimed to have killed over
However, U.S. has downplayed the claims and stated that the attack, which involved a suicide bomber, was repulsed and that only one soldier was treated for a concussion.
The Al-Qaeda statement also lauds Shabaab for targeting Italian troops in Mogadishu on the same day as the assault on the American base. “We congratulate our brothers in Shabaab and fully support their leadership in their noble endeavors,” the statement read.
Al-Qaeda Adds Message to its Global Branches
Al-Qaeda leadership also adds a short message its branches across the world. The message is a reminder of the group’s key goal of targeting the Western interests including their allies.
The Al-Qaeda’s general leadership statement among reasons is aimed at boosting the morale of their foot soldiers from all their global branches to continue with their goal of conducting more attacks.
Message from Ibrahim al Qosi praising the Al-Qaeda branch in East Africa on Baledogle attack on U.S. troop and alleged Israeli troops at the base are aimed at encouraging Al-Shabaab in continuing its attacks on the “Crusaders” and “African apostates” inside Somalia.
The attacks are also in retaliatory and response to the recent U.S. drone strikes targeting on Al-Shabaab. “This is a message to the floundering Trump administration and to the American people that their aggressive policies against Muslims in Somalia and everywhere else will have dire consequences.”
While an audio statement from AQAP to Al-Shabaab is important, it is not shocking as in recent years, as AQAP has faced setbacks inside Yemen, the Al-Qaeda aligned Al-Shabaab has tried to boost AQAP’s morale in its own message to the group.
While Al-Shabaab’s recent attacks on AMISOM, U.S. and Italian troops inside Somalia were largely ineffective and overly exaggerated, it is clear that they suit Al-Qaeda’s propaganda portraying itself as defenders of Islam and Muslims around the world.
