War on Global Terror Terrorism,

War on Global Terror

Terrorism, a term which sends chills down the spine of many, is defined as by the U.S. Department of Defense as "the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological" (DoD), even though has been around for several centuries was emphasized to the word by the September 11,2011 al Qa'eda attacks on U.S. soil. Over the years, al Qa'eda has managed to chang its tact and sophistication while attacking U.S. interests in domestic and international grounds. In East Africa for instance, Al-Shaabab, a splinter cell of al Qa'eda has been reining terror on Somalis, Kenyans, Ugandans, Tanzanians and the rest of the region. Their attacks and illegal activities almost grounded the global Maritime activities to a standstill with the rampant cases of Piracy in the Indian Ocean (Gentleman a). The operations of Al-Shaabab has also caused economic and social instability in the region.Tourism in Kenya for instance was almost grinded to a halt by the Rampant kidnappings by of American and British tourists by the terrorist organization. It is these threats that prompted the Kenyan Defense Forces to launch an operation dubbed "Operation Linda Nchi" (a Swahili term for Operation Protect the Nation) aimed at clearing the neighboring Somalia of terrorist elements (Gentleman b).The aim of the Kenyan offensive is to protect its territorial integrity.

The War on Al-Shaabab

Kenyan incursion into Southern Somalia began after the kidnapping of 2 Spanish women who were employees of Medecins Sans Frontieres at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya by Al-Shaabab militants .This operation was headed by Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) and was codenamed Operation "Linda Nchi" to mean Operation "Protect the Country." This was the codename for the largely coordinated military operation between the Kenyan military, Somalian military, Ethiopian military, French military and supposedly the U.S. military that commenced on October 16th,2011. During this operation, the Kenyan soldiers crossed the border into the southern parts of Somalia; places that were considered the conflict zones of the nation.

These service men and women were in pursuit of the Al-Shaabab militants who were alleged to have kidnapped in various occasions several tourists and aid workers inside the Kenyan territory (Aljazeera English).BBC reported that the Kenyan government was claiming that its action of deploying its troops was sanctioned by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) (BBC).The Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Moses Wetangula indicated that there was no specific exit date from the military operation. He however noted from the start that the mission's success was effective in crippling the capacity of the terror movement.

The Guardian on the other hand reported that several sources agreed that the Kenyan government's intervention plan was one that had originally been discussed and finalized earlier on in 2010.It was however finalized with the great input from its western partners such as the United States and to some degree by France (Remy).Nairobi was therefore accused of using the kidnappings as an excuse to launch its military incursion, an operation which according to some people was already discussed and was just ready and in waiting of the perfect opportunity for launch.

Within months after the launch of the military operation aimed at weeding out Al-Shaabab from their hide outs and bases of operation, the Kenyan military reported that they were major gains and milestones against the ragtag militia group (Aljazeera English c)

Al-Shaabab's war crimes in Somalia

The ragtag militia group Al-Shaabab has been blames for committing several atrocities and war crimes against the Somali population. The Huffington Post for instance reported that the militia group denied the presence of famine and diseases among the population that stayed within their areas of operations. Hunger and disease in most areas in Somali resulted in a humanitarian crisis. Several humanitarian organizations tried to help the ailing and hungry population but Al-Shaabab denied them entry into those territories. In some cases, the militants burnt relief food and spread propaganda that the food that was being brought in by the Humanitarian aid agencies to be either rotten or poisoned by their "enemies" (Huffington Post).

The militants also killed Christians and anybody who they perceived to be a spy for the Kenyan Defense Forces, AMISOM troops, American government and any other perceived enemies from the West. It goes without saying that these murders were extrajudicial and were a crime against humanity.

Al-Shaabab defeated in Kismayu

The ragtag militia group's key economic and strategic port city of Kismayu was captured by the Kenyan Defense Forces sometime in September. Al-Shaabab militia were reported by Aljazeera to have pulled out of the key strategic Somali town of Kismayu.It is thrugh the Port of Kismayu that Al-Shaaabab made money from the exportation of charcoal to Middle eastern countries.This was therefore their economic powerhouse since other illegal trades in imported firearms were also done here. While retreating the group's spokesman Mr. Ali Mohamud Rage noted that "The military command of al-Shabab mujahedeen ordered a tactical retreat at midnight," ("Al-Shabab rebels pull out of key Somali town").

Strategic location

Prior to the capture of the Kismayu sea Port, several people (close to 12,000) fled the port city for fear of an assault from the Kenyan Defense Force. The capture of this key and strategic port city is a major blow to the Al-Shaabab and will most certainly lead to positive improvements in the Somali region.

The loss of Kismayu after its capture by the Kenyan and Somali forces deal a major blow to the Al-Shaabab terror group.This is due to that fact that the defeat weakened their morale while also depriving them of the revenue that they once collected from taxing the locals and the shipping businesses.

Kismayu was the backborne of the terror group's funding. The location also doubled as their ideal spot for bringing in arms and other supplies. Losing the port city would definitely be a major setback for the militia group since it would leave them with no source of income.

In response to the defeat, Aljazeera noted that the group's military commander, Mr. Abu Omar, insisted that Al-Shaabab's fight in Kismayu as well as elsewhere is never about territory.He noted that the real fight is an ideological war. The group accused Kenyans of being "invaders" and infidels (Anti-Islam). They therefore insisted that that their war is an ideological warfare. In fact, the militia group wanted to impose Sharia law across the entire Somalia.It is important to note that the war on Terror in Somalia and its neighboring countries is far from over.This is because the militants have simply joined the amorphous and general population and are resorting to guerrilla tactics as witnessed in Mogadishu in the recent past. It is necessary that the international community never relents in its quest for a peaceful Somalia. This can of course be achieved by a mutual cooperation between Somalia and regional and international authorities.

An opinion

In my opinion, even though the war on terror is far from over, the milestones that have already been achieved in Somalia are great. The fight against Al-Shaabab has to some extent lead to a significant reduction the piracy levels. The work of Hamilton explored the link between terrorism and piracy. Security officials from all over the world have come to an agreement that the risk that is posed by piracy to the global maritime shipping as well as national and regional security is significant. These risks are related to the susceptibility of the global trade shipments to terrorist attacks as well as to the emergence of very powerful Jihadist movements with strong connections to international terrorist networks like Al-Shaabab in Somalia.There are however opinions to suggest that most of the cases of piracy off the coast of Somalia are purly economic crimes like any other (Hamilton 24).