Somali Officials: “Fresh Shabaab recruits pouring into several Mogadishu districts”

Mogadishu (Harar24) – After intense shelling and attacks carried out by Al-Shabaab last night, Mogadishu continues to witness frightful nights as Al-Shabaab’s nightly raids are alarmingly on the rise.

Several reports indicate that heavy clashes took place between members of Al-Shabaab and the Somali army after the former attacked bases belonging to the latter in the Huriwa, Daynile and Dharkinley districts.

Following such attacks on an almost nightly basis, Huriwa’s district chief Omar Abdulle Ja’fan spoke to local media while addressing the dire situation in several major districts, he said: “Al-Shabaab have almost taken over this district, they are on the verge of completely taking over the district. They are pouring in so many new recruits into some of the districts of Mogadishu, it’s unbelievable.”

Local residents have also maintained that such claims are true, Abshir Ahmed who’s a resident of the Huriwa district told Harar24: “The nights here belong to Al-Shabaab no doubt, when you see an armed man walking through the district at night you can be almost certain the he’s an Al-Shabaab member”.

Other residents claim that Al-Shabaab freely patrol several districts at night while fully armed. One resident based in Yaqshid district who spoke to Harar24 on the condition of anonymity said: “They walk the streets at night with full gear, they police around and enforce Sharia law. They reprimand anyone whom they see as committing “indecency” or “vice”, they usually chastise them and lecture them, however times they could also hand out harsher penalties.”

Despite the fact that Al-Shabaab pulled out of the capital in mid 2011, they have maintained a low key presence in the city which had been steadily on the rise since then. Many believe that Al-Shabaab could slowly but surely be making a return to the city.