JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Human shields and drones, famine and terrorists, and China’s Belt and Road.
That is the toxic cocktail that is Somalia today, stirred up by a superpower struggle dressed in diplomatic niceties from Washington and Beijing. A country where real agendas are hidden, Somalia has been struggling to find peace for decades and now faces deadly famine.
Not content with terrorizing the population, the Islamist militant group al-Shabab, closely linked to the al Qaeda terrorist movement, is now said to be actively and rapidly causing famine in Somalia:
“With international support, al-Shabab is facing some pressure. What they are doing now is fueling the devastating situation that we are seeing, accelerating the (onset of) the famine,” said Jasmine Opperman, a former intelligence agent now a security leader. . consultant specializing in extremism and political violence, she told Fox News Digital. “They are intentionally displacing the people who live under their rule.”
US AIR STRIKES IN SOMALIA KILL 15 AL-SHABAB FIGHTERS
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with former Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, August 31, 2018.
(Roman Pilipey/Pool via Reuters)
In a nutshell, in the areas where al-Shabab operates, its militants are driving the villagers, mostly farmers, and their livestock off their land and forcing them into situations where their animals starve to death in what the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees calls the worst drought. the country has experienced in 40 years.
The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Somalia, Magatte Guisse, confirmed to Fox News Digital that refugees face “protection risks caused by the armed conflict: indiscriminate attacks, separation of families, forced recruitment into armed groups, destruction of property. Insecurity in certain areas is making it difficult for aid agencies to reach people affected by the drought.”
Observers point out that this means al-Shabab terrorists are, perhaps inadvertently, preventing agencies from establishing exactly how many are already starving. Some even say that famine may already exist in Somalia. Even so, the official line, drawn from apparently incomplete data, is that the death toll should reach famine levels within the next six months.
UNHCR’s Guisse told Fox News Digital that Somalia is “on the brink of famine.” Severe food and water shortages have left 7.1 million people in the country acutely food insecure. Millions have fled their homes in search of vital humanitarian assistance. This year alone, more than 1.1 million people have been displaced within Somalia by drought. In a massive operation, UNHCR has helped nearly half a million people in Somalia this year.
President Biden speaks during the US-Africa Leaders Summit on December 15, 2022 in Washington, DC
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Ummy Dubow, Somalia deputy country director for programs at the aid agency CARE, which has supported more than 700,000 Somalis this year, told Fox News Digital that the organization is very concerned.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of emaciated women and children visiting the health centers we support,” Dubow said. “It is unacceptable that more than half of Somalia’s population will face acute food insecurity by June 2023 if urgent funds are not available. Famine or no famine, more support is needed to save lives.”
The timing in May of the Biden administration’s announcement that Americans were putting their boots back on the ground after President Trump withdrew troops, the day after the Somali election results, arouses suspicion among some.
After all, Somalia has oil. Seismologists claim that there are up to 30 billion barrels. And American companies reportedly want to get in on it.
SOMALIA EXPECTS HUNGER IN SEVERAL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY IN THE COMING MONTHS
But America is trying to catch up with the panda in the room. China has never stopped supporting Somalia, instead developing more than 80 infrastructure projects such as hospitals and roads.
In return, Somalia has become the first East African nation to establish diplomatic relations with China, with Beijing creating a special envoy for the Horn of Africa. No such person has been designated in Washington. Beijing views Somalia, located near the vital Suez Canal and with Africa’s longest coastline, as an essential part of its Belt and Road trade route.
A view of the damage caused by a suicide car explosion targeting a security convoy in Mogadishu, Somalia, on January 12, 2022.
(Sadak Mohamed/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Very different views are being pushed from Washington and Beijing.
“We view African countries, including Somalia, as partners on global and regional priorities,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital this week. “We remain committed to supporting efforts led by Somalia and the African Union to counter the threat posed by al-Shabab and other terrorist groups.”
China’s special envoy for the region, Xue Bing, stated that “Chinese wisdom” proposes that foreign nations like the US withdraw, and urged the Somali government to “get rid of outside intervention.” We respect and support the countries of the region to resolve their differences independently. “
And in the middle of the geopolitical fight is the aggressive cancer that is the terrorist group al-Shabab. It is arguably even more dangerous because, thanks to a sustained offensive by the country’s new government, the militants’ backs are against the wall.
Analyst Opperman concluded that al-Shabab has recently lost control of 80% of the south-central regions of Somalia.
“The government offensive is intense and continues to gain momentum,” Opperman said. “Shabab is going back to human shields, back to kidnapping.”
Al-Shabab terrorists conduct military exercises near Mogadishu, Somalia, in 2011.
(AP)
SOMALIA BOMBINGS: AT LEAST 100 KILLED IN AL-SHABAB TERRORIST ATTACKS
There are signs that sections of Somali society, often silent in the past, are turning against the terror group, sometimes in cruel ways. Hiran area governor Ali Jeyte promised a $30,000 reward and amnesty for “any al-Shabab member who kills a leader of the group” and urged them to cut off the militants’ private parts.
Al-Shabab has become one of the world’s richest terrorist groups, extorting money from villagers and operating roadblocks that allow most people through, but at a high price. This led Somali President Hassan Mohamud to lash out at this alleged faith-based organization during the recent US-Africa summit in Washington.
People arrive at a displacement camp on the outskirts of Dollow, Somalia, on September 19, 2022.
(AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)
They are “hiding in Islam, which is not true,” Mohamud told delegates. “What they are spreading is not Islam and it has nothing to do with Islam. They are a mafia group who cover themselves with the brand of Islam. If the community stands up, they have no choice but to flee.”
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At the request of the Somali government, the US Africa Command claimed to have killed 15 al-Shabab operatives in two drone strikes last week. The US operations, involving some 450 US soldiers, are helping government forces and feared Danab Special Forces groups push back al-Shabab. But the militants still frequently reverse gains, with some villages changing hands multiple times.
