The Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab has been fighting the weak Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) for more than a decade now has announced of setting up a Coronavirus treatment centre within Jilib, its defacto headquarters in Middle Shabelle region of Somalia.
Al-Shabaab which views itself as an alternative government has through its spokesman Sheikh Dheere blamed foreign troops for bringing Coronavirus in Somalia.
Details on the militant’s treatment centre remains scanty. Al-Shabab noting of great threat posed by the Coronavirus wishes to exploit this current pandemic to establish itself as a caring alternative to Somali people.
Through its pro-media, the group announced that its treatment committee has opened a COVID-19 centre in Jilib, about 380km (236 miles) south of the capital, Mogadishu calling on Somali citizenry exhibiting symptoms to seek medical help for their centre.
For more than a decade, the group has been fighting to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government and establish its own government based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
Its ironical the same militant group that frequently carries out bombings and gun attacks in Somalia on military and civilian targets, including at hotels, intersections and checkpoints, now seeks to help the same populous it has greatly hurt.
As of Sunday14th June 2020, Somalia had reported 2,579 COVID-19 cases and 87 deaths, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University.
