France and US on terrorist radar: Al-Shabaab threatens to target them in Djibouti

Ahmed Adel

The leader of the Somali terrorist movement Al-Shabaab sent a message to the Djiboutian people, calling for striking at international interests in the country, especially French and American, in an incitement that comes less than two weeks before the presidential elections in the small country in the Horn of Africa.

The most recent message came from Al-Shabaab leader Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaidah, whose terrorist movement launched a terrorist attack that resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries in Somalia and border areas of the African country, which has been ravaged by decades of conflicts with which successive governments and international military interventions have failed to curb terrorism and extremism or put an end to the war of attrition.

Al-Shabaab, the Somali branch of al-Qaeda, has transferred a large part of its terrorist activities to border areas, while Somalia in recent months has been experiencing a political crisis and power struggles between outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo and the Somali opposition groups.

The Kata’ib Foundation, Al-Shabaab’s media wing, published video clips from the message of its leader, who threatened to launch terrorist operations against French and American interests in Djibouti.

In the video clip, Abu Ubaidah attacked Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who has ruled since 1999 and is certain to win a fifth term in the presidential election scheduled for April 9.

Due to its unique geographical location on the borders of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, opposite the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, Djibouti is home to many foreign military bases.

The largest French battalion in Africa is located in Djibouti, where there are about 1,500 soldiers, while there is also the only permanent American base in Africa with 4,000 soldiers, from which counterterrorism operations are launched, especially in Somalia.

Djibouti also has the military presence of Japan and Italy, as well as China, which in 2017 opened a military base and port in the country.

In addition, Djibouti participates with a battalion in the African Union force in Somalia (AMISOM), which is fighting Al-Shabaab.