Mogadishu’s Frontline Fight Against al-Shabab Reveals Fragile Progress Amid Ongoing Threats
Despite strides in disrupting al-Shabab attacks in Somalia’s capital, persistent threats and shifting militant tactics expose the limits of current efforts—raising urgent questions about Washington’s role and America’s national security interests.
In the heart of Mogadishu, the battle lines against extremist militants are drawn not only in remote war zones but also at city checkpoints manned by watchful security operatives. Colonel Abdikani Ali Mohamed, a young commanding figure with an unrelenting gaze, leads this frontline defense—an embodiment of Somalia’s struggle to contain the terror group al-Shabab within its capital. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s declaration of “total war” on al-Shabab upon his 2022 election marked a symbolic turn toward confronting decades-old instability. Yet as successes are modestly claimed in stymying large-scale attacks like those that once wreaked havoc at Mogadishu's Lido beach,...
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