Highlight:
The National Police Department in Turkey on 16th December 2015 issued a security alert to all 81 Turkish Provinces to be on the lookout for a potential attack by al Shabaab an al Qaeda affiliate in the Horn Africa.
Assessment:
Turkey is a great ally to Somalia which makes them a very probable target of the al Shabaab whose primary agenda is to oust the western-back Federal Government.
The alert was issued to the police to be on guard for an al Shabaab terrorist code name ‘Bihaari’ who according to intelligence reports has been tasked with the mandate of conducting bomb attacks in Turkey.
Bihaari who is currently in Syria and en route to Turkey is linked to other al Shabaab suspects in Turkey; D.X. a trained bomb-maker who is studying in Turkey and Ahmed Ibraahim Barlex also educated in Turkey.
This imminent attack isn’t the first by the al Shabaab against Turkey as in January 22nd a bomb was detonated at a hotel in Mogadishu where a Turkish delegation was meeting before the arrival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Conclusion:
Despite al Shabaab declaring Turkey as an enemy not only to the militants but also to Islam, it has mounted attacks on Turkish delegations and it is very likely that the attacks are imminent especially with the recent allegiance shift of a faction of the militants to Syria and Iraq based ISIL.
