Al-Shabaab in bid to turn Somalis against Kenya

Ahmed Adel

The Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab movement has threatened Kenya, against the background of a border dispute between the African state and neighboring Somalia.

On September 19, al-Shabaab aired a video in which its presumed emir said his movement does not approve of a recent International Court of Justice decision on the border dispute between Kenya and Somalia.

Tens relations

The border dispute has caused tensions between Nairobi and Mogadishu. The dispute has assumed an international proportion when Kenya recalled its ambassador in Somalia in February this year. Kenya also asked Somalia’s ambassador to leave for his country.

Kenya unilaterally annexed a territory on its border with Somalia in 1979. In 2009, Kenya tried to legitimize its annexation of the area by signing an agreement with Somalia. However, the Somali parliament turned down the agreement in 2011. It said Somalia’s then interim government did not have the right to redraw borders with neighboring states.

Going international

Somalia resorted to the International Court of Justice, even as Kenya wants to reach a political settlement. The Kenyan government said several times that dialogue would continue to be the only way out of the conflict with Somalia.

In early 2019, the dispute over maritime borders between the two states entered a new stage. On February 7, Somalia invited international companies to explore oil and gas in 50 blocks in an area it said belong to its territorial waters. Kenya, however, considered the Somali move unlawful. It said it is ready to defend its resources by all means.

The International Court of Justice took the dispute between the two countries. Some influential states in the Horn of Africa proposed to intervene.

On June 27, the United States said it would broker a settlement of the conflict between the two states.

Recruitment  

African affairs specialist Mohamed Ezzedine described the statement of al-Shabaan movement as a “populist” one.

He said the movement aims to recruit more Somali youth within its ranks and also provoking Kenya.

“Al-Shabaab suffers from a decrease in the number of its elements,” Ezzedine told The Reference. “Most of Somalia’s youngsters have left the country because of the war raging on there.”