Countering Coordinated Terrorism in the Horn of Africa

October 15, 2022

BY ADDISALEM MULAT

As things stand at the moment, the region of the Horn of Africa is turning out to be a hotbed of terrorist groups, extremism, militarization, and other wicked deeds that can in the shortest possible time move the entire region into uncharted waters.

Apart from posing an imminent threat in the territory, the ill-minded terrorist groups have been making a supreme effort to dismantle the Horn of Africa and accomplish their hidden motives.

Notwithstanding the fact that the groups know the fact that they cannot make their hidden agenda become a reality by any means whatsoever as a consequence of the concerted efforts of the member states, they have been pulling out all the stops to pull to pieces this strategic region.

As the criminal syndicates have been housing themselves under the Horn of Africa skies, they spare no effort to turn the region into pandemonium. As the criminal organizations have been working with a broad range of criminal groups for their nefarious mission, they sustained coming up with layers of plots more than ever before.

In the present climate, on the heels of actions against the law of the terrorist groups in the Horn of Africa, member countries have been confronting pressure in the face of their own internal difficulties that need a quick fix and a Band-Aid solution. The aforementioned circumstance on the ground in black and white demonstrates the need to foster regional security cooperation.

For the sake of truth, unless the entire Horn region members’ states work in close collaboration to thwart the increasing imminent threat posed by the terrorist groups, leading a peaceful life would not be a walk in the park or low-hanging fruit. Above and beyond, as the groups feel like a chicken with its head cut off in the absence of conflict, they have been leaving no stone unturned to break apart strategic place and accomplish the vested interests of their paymasters.

Ethiopia for instance is fighting the unholy alliances of the criminal syndicates among a wide spectrum of terrorist groups like terrorist TPLF group, OLF-Shene, Al-Shabab, and other criminal groups.

Serving as the Trojan horse of the historic adversary of the Horn of Africa, the groups in a number of situations have been claiming the lives of noncombatants in the region.

In addition to playing a part in barbarism, massacres, destructions, and other criminal acts, the groups have been reducing social infrastructure of noncombatants into ashes.

It should be borne in mind that lately, Al-Shabab has continued making incursions in Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia as well. Ethiopia which is known for combating against terrorism at all hours of the day and night in the Horn of Africa has been carrying out a wide spectrum of fruitful activities to ensure peace and tranquility.

It must not be forgotten that Ethiopia has been many a time and of fighting against the Al-Shabaab criminal enterprise and accomplishing the desired goal by deploying in Somalia its highly skilled troops that know the nitty-gritty of military skills.

It is a well-known fact that very recently, Ethiopia has successfully repealed and killed 800 Al-Shabab fighters including their top commander that had been moving heaven and earth to turn upside down the horn of Africa. On the subject of the issue, quite a lot of print and electronic media outlets worldwide had reported the evil deeds of terrorist groups.

Ethiopia’s military says security forces killed more than 800 fighters from the Somali militant group al-Shabab after Shabab fighters launched a rare cross-border attack.

General Tesfaye Ayalew, the Head of the Deployment for Ethiopia’s National Defense Forces, said more than 800 al-Shabab fighters, including 24 top leaders, were killed in recent operations against the group.

He said al-Shabab tried to infiltrate Ethiopia through the country’s eastern border but they have been “successfully thwarted by the joint efforts of the security forces.”

The president of Ethiopia’s Somali State announced that Ethiopian forces will establish a buffer zone inside Somalia to stop further al-Shabab attacks across the border. Authorities in Somalia’s Bakool region welcomed the announcement and said it would help stabilize the region.

Al-Shabab has also been fighting the Somali government and African Union troops in Somalia for more than 15 years, carrying out attacks in Somalia and neighboring Kenya. Experts believe that the group’s attack in Ethiopia was meant to show the group still poses a danger to Horn of African countries.

In a statement issued recently, the National Security Council mentioned that the Somali Regional States demonstrated encouraging combat against the terrorist group by awakening and mobilizing the people to annihilate the enemy.

The federal government effectively responded by organizing a command post that incorporated members of the National Defense Forces. In this operation, 813 and 79 members of the terrorist group have been killed and detained respectively.

Lately, Security Expert Abebe Muluneh, told local media that the recent Al-Shabaab attack on Ethiopia was primarily intended to serve as propaganda against Ethiopia. The fighters were sent to Ethiopia by Al-Shabaab with the knowledge that they would never succeed or survive. The leaders of the group, however, spread this falsehood about attacking Ethiopia to recruit new youths.

The fight against Al-Shabaab can be resolved if the Horn countries conduct a quick operation at the same time. Abebe believes Al-Shabab might be destroyed with a well-planned military operation. The military forces of Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Djibouti must be combined in order to carry out a massive operation at once, he suggested.

Al-Shabaab will keep trying to take over Somalia unless the Horn states unite in a powerful military alliance and utterly crush it. As a show of might, the strikes on neighboring nations continue as well. But the new Somalia administration needs to be powerful in order to organize the coalition.

Since the beginning of time, Ethiopia has actively played a part in the peacekeeping mission in a wide spectrum of nations worldwide aimed at bringing about the peace of the population of the world with flying colors. As a matter of fact, it is common knowledge that a considerable amount of the global community knows the peacekeeping force of Ethiopia and its accomplishments under the world skies.

Whenever something happens in any part of the world, no matter what it costs Ethiopia under the United Nations Peacekeeping leaves from time to time no stone unturned to get to the bottom of the problem and pacify glitches at the earliest possible juncture. Ethiopia managed to sign a wide spectrum of security cooperation with most nations situated in the East African Region such as South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Burundi, Djibouti, and other nations.

Be that as it may, in the present climate, widening its attack, the extremist group killed seven Djibouti soldiers aimed at moving the country into uncharted waters.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia condemns the barbaric and cowardly attack on October 7, 2022, on the Tadjourah Regiment of the Djiboutian Army. It conveys its deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the bereaved, injured, and missing, as well as to the people and Government of the Republic of Djibouti, as learnt from a press release issued by MoFA.

The Government of Ethiopia stands in solidarity with the Government and people of the Republic of Djibouti at this difficult moment and expresses its full readiness to closely work together with the Government of the Republic of Djibouti in tackling the scourge of terrorism in the region.

By the same token, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister Ambassador Redwan Hussien has condemned in the strongest terms the attack by an armed group on the Tadjourah Regiment of the Djibouti army at Garabistan.

During the course of his meeting with the Djiboutian delegation comprised of the Chief of intelligence, police, and deputy chief of Staff, Amb. Redwan has expressed dismay at the recent attack. At the event, both agreed to assess the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on security and border control and vowed to enhance joint cooperation and operation.

It is to be recalled that Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has also recently conveyed its deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the bereaved, injured, and missing, as well as to the people and Government of the Republic of Djibouti.

In its statement, MoFA stated that the Government of Ethiopia stands in solidarity with the Government and people of the Republic of Djibouti at this difficult moment and expresses its full readiness to closely work together with the Government of the Republic of Djibouti in tackling the scourge of terrorism in the region

The Ethiopian Herald 15 October 2022