Somali PM Vows Attacks Against ‘al-Qaeda’

The self-proclaimed Somali government may be small on territorial possessions, but big on ambitions, as Prime Minister Mohamed Mohamed insists the forces will soon launch a major offensive against “al-Qaeda,” which is surprising since al-Qaeda is not believed to have much of a presence in Somalia in the first place.

The answer to how this claim was created came later in the interview, when he reiterated calls for increases in aid from the US. Clearly, with Yemen’s Saleh government getting massive increases in aid over its own al-Qaeda auxiliery, Somalia wants in too.

But the history of US aid to Somalia is pretty sketchy, with the Obama Administration sending literally tons of arms and ammo in crates to the would-be government, only to find much of it ending up on sale in weapons bazaars in the insurgent-held areas. Just four months ago the military chief was fired for stealing massive amounts of US provided weapons and selling them to the insurgency.

Still, the government is constantly ambitious about tackling the assorted insurgent groups within the nation, insisting they’re going to eventually conquer the entire country. Ultimately, though, most experts will be considering them to be doing quite well if they can hold on to their tiny sliver of the Mogadishu coast.