Turjumaad ayaa la diyaarinayaa

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – In a significant rhetorical shift, the militant group Al-Shabaab has for the first time waded into the escalating political dispute gridlocking Somalia. The standoff pits the federal government against an alliance of regional leaders and opposition figures – a feud the insurgents claim is driven entirely by greed over foreign aid and “looted public wealth.”

In an audio message broadcast to mark the Muslim Eid festivities, Al-Shabaab’s veteran spokesman, Ali Mohamud Rageh, widely known as Ali Dhere, seized on the domestic political crisis to argue that the bitter impasse proves the country remains firmly under the thumb of Western powers, specifically the United States and the European Union.

According to the insurgent group, the fragility of Somalia’s sovereignty was laid bare the moment internal political friction surfaced. Ali Dhere alleged that American and European diplomats stationed in Mogadishu swiftly summoned both President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and opposition leaders to the heavily fortified Halane base camp. There, the spokesman claimed, Western envoys delivered a blunt ultimatum: settle the political differences or face a catastrophic withdrawal of all foreign personnel, alongside a total freeze on both direct budgetary support and the vital financial and security assistance anchoring Somalia’s counter-terrorism operations.

The audio address leaned heavily into Al-Shabaab’s long-standing narrative, which consistently frames the internationally backed authorities in Mogadishu as “puppets” of Western and Ethiopian interests. Ali Dhere drew a direct line back to President Mohamud’s election four years ago, asserting that the head of state was summoned to the Halane base on the very night of his victory, only to be called back to the exact same venue years later as his political term expired. This, the spokesman argued, is definitive proof that the presidency serves at the behest of Washington.